


Of Flowers and Weeds

by Keep_Looning



Series: Of Flowers and Weeds [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Antonio owns a flower shop, Attempted Sexual Assault, But also realistic, Eventual Smut, He adores it, Human Names Used, Language, Lovi is homeless, M/M, Mentions of Prostitution, Modern Setting, Or Is he?, Romance, Slow Burn, Violence, be aware it's going to get graphic, but they weren't really enemies so, but this has been sitting on my laptop for a while, eventual hurt/comfort, have fun y'all, heavy focus on their developing relationship, i know i have like three other stories i should be writing, i mean like really pretty vulgar language, kind of enemies to friends to lovers, okay i can explain, okay now real tags:, once again feel the need to say that this fic holds no punches, this will be / is explicit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 72,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25447888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keep_Looning/pseuds/Keep_Looning
Summary: The first time Antonio laid eyes on the scruffy delinquent curled up on the side of a building — his building — he didn’t think anything of it. The kid was insufferable, vulgar even, and he had no right loitering outside the flower shop Antonio had worked so hard to open.He knew the kid was in a bad spot, he knew that he was a foul-mouthed vagrant, he knew that he had no place to go, but Antonio had a business to protect.Too bad this ill-tempered boy didn’t give a damn about what Antonio wanted.— — — — — — —This is going to be fairly light-hearted, but there are going to be darker points. Nothing gets sugar-coated here, so please tread lightly. That being said, the focus is on the developing romance and how love can bloom even in the roughest places.
Relationships: South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Series: Of Flowers and Weeds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918714
Comments: 219
Kudos: 190





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Antonio ever laid eyes on him — shivering, huddled against the wall, but _glaring_ like the world itself was the enemy — he didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t like he’d never seen a homeless person before, there were plenty of them in the city. It was always with a sort of detached sort of interest that Antonio would watch them, and he didn’t mind sparing whatever change he had in his pocket. It was normal, and he was quick to dismiss it.

But something was different this time around. 

He’d been walking slowly to work, the dewey morning too soft to rush through. He loved drawing little designs into the fogged up windows, smiling at the way water clung to the foliage that lined the sidewalks. Sometimes he would even pick a dandelion or two that sprung up from the pavement because he knew that such weeds were immediately eradicated. People were so quick to erase these weeds, seeing them as nothing but a nuisance, but they shone all the brighter for their resilience and determination to grow in the roughest of places. Besides, Antonio just _adored_ this shade of yellow, so how could he _not_ save such a pretty flower? 

He hummed in contentment, twirling one of those forgotten yellow flowers idly between his fingers. He filled his lungs with the crisp air, holding it until he thought his heart may explode. He released the oxygen with a loud sigh, turning his face to the sun (a beautiful, dandelion-yellow sun) and soaked in the warmth.

Antonio smiled when he saw his place of work, a quaint little brick building that was a bit worse for wear, but he loved it nonetheless. Ivy had started creeping up the walls, but he couldn’t bear to clear it away. The emerald leaves that grabbed at the coarse brick offered a brilliant contrast to the dull dreariness that characterised the bustling city surrounding. He’d worked hard to buy this building, to open up a business that he could be proud of. He may be young, but he was ambitious. This little flower shop was his life, his happiness.

So when he saw somebody curled up asleep against one of the walls, he was just a tad miffed.

Antonio twisted his lips into a defined little pout, spotting the huddled body from clear down the sidewalk. It never looked good to have someone — _a druggie, alcoholic, bum_ — leaning against your business. It drove customers away, it was an indicator that the neighborhood had gone to hell, it was unsafe, it was everything that a small-business owner definitely did _not want on their property!_

With a little huff, he started stomping his way down the sidewalk with every intention to shoo this inconsiderate vagrant from his property. He had sympathy for this person’s plight, sure, but it wasn’t his problem. He had his own business to protect, a life he had worked hard for, and he wasn’t going to allow people to just take advantage of him.

Antonio stalked closer, noticing some finer details the closer he got. The person was small, curled up on their side with a bag clutched firmly in their arms. They wore a threadbare hoodie, one that looked like it may have held color at some point, but had been since sun-bleached of any hue. The hood was drawn, so he couldn’t properly see the person’s face, but tangled brown hair spilled out and onto the ground below.

But if he felt any sort of pity, it was lost to the annoyance of seeing that person’s back pressed firmly against the ivy he’d grown so fond of, crumpling those beautiful leaves. Antonio crossed his arms, now directly in front of his unwanted guest (who was actually a lot smaller than he originally thought) and cleared his throat.

The person didn’t even twitch.

Antonio grumbled wordlessly, but didn’t make a move to get closer — who knew if this person was dangerous or not. He cleared his throat again, giving voice to his irritated thoughts as he grumbled, “Do you really have to sleep here?”

With a jerk of surprise, the person — _a boy_ — snapped his eyes open. They were breathtakingly beautiful, wide hazel that glinted with sharp specks of blazing gold. He blinked slowly, every time those stunning hazels were hidden from view feeling like a tragedy. He was also young, _far_ too young to be living on his own, and Antonio was starting to feel just a bit bad at the nasty assumptions he had made mere seconds prior.

The boy looked dazed, still suspended in that half-awake stage where nothing was real. He lifted his head from the rough asphalt below, his cheek red from where it was pressed into the cold ground. His hair, as Antonio noted earlier, was a matted, tangled mess. A dark mark under his jaw made his pallid complexion even more severe, but he didn’t look delicate. His golden eyes sharpened, face twisting in annoyance as a surprisingly rough voice growled, “I don’t know, do you really have to stand there?”

Antonio jumped at the sharp reply, not expecting such ferocity. This boy was clearly homeless, but he didn’t come across as some delinquent despite the mark under his jaw. Still, he shouldn’t be here, “Would you mind going somewhere else?”

He rolled his eyes, “Fuck off.”

Antonio suddenly remembered his earlier irritation, “This is private property, I can’t have you sleeping on my doorstep.”

The boy pushed himself to sit up completely, his glare growing fiercer by the second, “Good thing I’m not on your doorstep then, dumbass.”

“It’s a figure of speech.” Antonio grumbled under his breath.

“Oh, so the idiot knows what a metaphor is.” the boy snarked. “Piss off, it’s too early for this shit.”

Antonio was going to lose it, “Look kid, just get out of here. Where the hell are your parents, anyways?”

The boy’s face went an interesting shade of scarlet, “Oi, I’m not a fucking kid!”

“Sure you’re not.” Antonio grumbled, eyes raking over his slight frame. He was positively swimming in that weather-worn hoodie, and even if he was scrunched up on the ground, it was clear that he was of a shorter stature. “The last thing I need is a bunch of teenagers scaring away my customers.”

If this kid was mad before, then he was fuming now, “I’m fucking twenty years old, so shut your whore mouth before your idiocy infects me!”

Antonio recoiled at the coarse language, approximately three seconds away from calling the authorities on this ~~kid~~ _foul-mouthed nuisance,_ but something stopped him. He squinted his eyes in concentration, noticing the slight heave of this person’s chest. The boy’s hands shook imperceptibly, and his teeth were clenched tightly in… pain?

“Hey, are you alright?” Antonio asked, making a conscious effort to lower his voice.

“Fucking fantastic.” the boy mumbled, even if the way his labored breathing betrayed him. He was hurt, a hand held protectively around his middle, and Antonio was only now noticing. The kid wasn’t lingering because he _refused_ to move, but because he _couldn’t_ move. 

Antonio’s shoulders slumped in realization, the beginnings of worry settling in his chest. He didn’t know this kid, but it was clear that he was in a bad spot. Maybe Antonio had been too harsh, so it was with a shuddering breath that he started softly, “Listen, I may have come across as rude-”

“Oh, you think so, bastard?” he scoffed, completely interrupting Antonio’s attempt at an apology. “I was just minding my fucking business, what did I do to you?”

 _“Oh Dios ayúdame.”_ Antonio muttered under his breath, breathing deeply through his nose and out his mouth. He repeated the action a few more times, finally calm enough to say shortly, “Just be gone by tonight.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” he muttered, but tucked his head down to hide away.

With a long-suffering sigh, Antonio turned on his heel and disappeared into his little shop. He aggressively flipped the sign in the window to say ‘open’ before stomping his way behind a tall counter. He still had that lovely little dandelion in his hand, the stem ever so slightly crushed when he’d unintentionally squeezed it in his anger during the encounter. 

Antonio’s expression softened the longer he looked at the flower. It was damaged, but not broken, and once again he thought that it was more beautiful for it. He walked slowly to the window, adding that vibrant yellow to the mosaic of other wildflowers he’d been collecting. The vase was small, but it was overflowing with any and all color Antonio could find. He’d even stuck a few leaves in there just because he thought they had a nice shade of green, or they were an interesting shape. 

Turning away from the window, Antonio made his way back behind the counter. He spared one more thought to the kid that was taking refuge against his building, hoping that he would sort out whatever problems he had. 

The delicate jingle of the bell alerted Antonio to a customer, and the fleeting thought of that boy was gone. 

It was the first time Antonio ever laid eyes on that scruffy, angry, bitter boy, and it wasn’t to be the last. He didn’t think much of the hostile conversation at the time, nor did he know just how much that short encounter would change his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I promise I'm working on my other stuff, but this has been sitting on my computer for like three months!
> 
> Just had to go in and edit, a lot of the story is already written out, so enjoy! :)


	2. Chapter 2

That obnoxious, foul-mouthed delinquent didn’t clear out by the end of the day, nor the next one. Even the day after that he was still there, and Antonio was seriously getting fed up. He didn’t know why the kid refused to leave, but something told him that it might be out of spite that he stuck so close to Antonio’s precious little store. He was always in the same position, curled up protectively around his bag, back digging into those beautiful ivy leaves, and his hair _still_ that tangled mess.

With a huff, Antonio closed up his shop for the day. The sun was a watery orange, some of the color bleeding over into the cream skies. Dark shadows grew along the pavement, the dappled leaves rustling softly in the wind as the alleyway (where a certain _someone_ still loitered) was plunged into a cool inky black. 

The boy (he really needed to figure the kid’s name out) hadn’t moved all day, but he was at least awake now. That morning he’d been out cold, and no amount of prodding on Antonio’s end could wake him up. The dwindling light reflected harshly in the boy’s eyes, those molten flecks of gold smoldering with such intensity that Antonio almost had to turn away. The boy looked on in mild disdain, his scowl just daring him to say something.

And dammit, the challenge in those stunning hazels worked, “Are you going to leave, or do you plan on becoming a permanent addition to my store?”

With a flippant roll of his eyes, the boy shrugged, “Does it matter?”

Antonio sighed loudly, having no idea why he’d been putting up with this for literal days now. Maybe it was because getting the authorities involved would look bad, or maybe because it was just a hassle, or it could be that he actually sort of worried for this kid, and-

_No, he’s trespassing._

He crossed his arms, launching into another attempt to get this vagrant to vacate his property, “There’s a homeless shelter down the road, so why don’t you-”

“I’m not fucking homeless.” he suddenly growled, that glare as sharp as a rose’s thorn.

Antonio quirked an eyebrow up at that, saying with all the sarcasm he could muster, “Really?”

“Of course not, just how stupid are you?” the boy huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.

“So why exactly have you been sleeping outside my business for the better part of the week?” Antonio retorted.

The boy smirked, saying with an overbearing sense of smugness, “Because you’re fun to piss off.”

Antonio threw a hand up to his forehead before dragging it slowly down along the length of his face. He really didn’t have the energy to keep playing this game with this apparently _not_ -homeless kid (yeah, because Antonio believed that). It had been a long day, and this boy was only making it longer. He should just walk away, not indulge in this nonsense, but if he was going to continue loitering, then Antonio at least wanted a name, “Alright, I’m getting really sick of calling you ‘kid,’ and so are you. What’s your name?”

“None of your fucking business.” was the dismissive response. 

“Actually, this is my business.” Antonio huffed, pointing to the building that _he_ owned. “And if you’re not homeless, then why don’t you just run along to your family and leave me alone?”

The boy’s face darkened, but he didn’t turn to meet Antonio’s eyes. He tucked his arms towards his middle, that threadbare hoodie doing absolutely nothing to obstruct that harsh chill that permeated the growing twilight scenery, “Don’t talk about shit you know nothing about.”

Antonio was a bit taken aback by the sudden melancholy that colored his tone, taking an unintentional step forward before he could catch himself. He cleared his throat, covering up that sinking sense of worry with sternness, “Can you at least not loiter during the day? It looks bad for business.”

“Piss off.” the boy mumbled, tucking his head down to further obscure his face from view. He shifted onto his side, back towards Antonio as he growled, “Leave me alone, I’ve got a long night to freeze through.”

Well now Antonio just felt bad. He dropped the harsh scowl from his face, bouncing lightly where he stood to try and retain some body heat. It was getting colder by the second, and with a pang Antonio noticed a shiver visibly rip through the kid’s frame. He looked down to his own jacket, then back up to the threadbare hoodie the brunet was clutching rather pitifully to his small frame. He knew what he had to do.

_Dammit._

Antonio wordlessly removed his jacket, padding as silently as he could up to the shivering body on the rough asphalt. He got within a meter and set the coat on the ground, backing off immediately when he saw the kid stiffen up in alarm.

“What the-”

“You’re cold, just use it.” Antonio cut off the protest before it could start, laughing lightly at the way the kid twisted around to glare at him.

He peered down at the jacket, looking back up to Antonio with untrusting eyes. He reached out cautiously to the warm garment of clothing, face tensing in rage, “I don’t want your fucking charity.”

Antonio waved his hand dismissively in the air, already turning down the street, “It’s not, this is a favor. I want the jacket back, but you can use it tonight.”

There was a huff of annoyance, but no verbal answer given to that. Antonio was still walking down the sidewalk, figuring he shouldn’t give the kid a chance to give the jacket back. But just as he was about to turn around the corner, he spared a fleeting glance over his shoulder. The boy was curled up on his side, that jacket already wrapped firmly around him. 

He couldn’t tell if the sporadic hitch of his shoulders was real or imagined.

* * *

Antonio’s trespasser wasn’t there when he walked to work the next morning. The alleyway was completely vacant, the faint crease in those ivy leaves the only evidence that anyone had ever used his building as refuge. The kid was gone, and unfortunately that meant that his jacket was gone as well. 

He stomped rather childishly into his store, pushing the door open with just a bit more force than necessary. It was cold out that morning, so Antonio was already in a foul mood. He’d have to invest in a new jacket, but first he had to deal with a troublesome coworker of his… 

“Oh dear, what is it this time?” drawled a velvety voice.

Antonio sighed loudly, intent on exhibiting his malcontent, “He’s gone.”

A blond appeared from behind the tall counter, wordlessly handing Antonio his apron as he said, “And this _he_ is…?”

“That homeless kid, he’s gone.” Antonio huffed.

“I see.” the blond said pensively, flipping his silky locks dramatically over his shoulder. “And you are upset by this?”

“Clearly.” Antonio grumbled. “He ran off with my jacket.”

“Ah, but you gave that to him, _mon ami.”_ Francis pointed out with a cheerful bark of laughter.

Antonio rubbed at his eyes, nodding once in agreement. It wasn’t like he was _that_ upset about losing his jacket — he could easily afford another one. But something about the fact that the kid loitered for _days_ and only cleared out when he got something for his troubles hurt just the slightest bit. Antonio wasn’t sure exactly why, but he was irritated nonetheless.

Francis sighed, although he was still smiling in blatant amusement. He plucked a lone flower from a vase, sauntering up to the fuming Spaniard with a mischievous glint in his eyes. The moment he was close enough, he tucked the flower, a deep crimson carnation, behind his friend’s ear. The blond pulled back with a smirk, “A true Spanish beauty.”

Antonio brought a hand up to the carnation, running a delicate finger over the silky petals. He smiled, shoulders hitching up until he was laughing. It was boisterous, chortling laughter that he just couldn’t contain. He swatted Francis in the shoulder, forgetting his dour mood by his friend’s teasing antics, “Stop flirting with me, it’s not going to work.”

“Worth the shot.” Francis said with a shrug, returning to his place behind the counter to put together a new bouquet of wildflowers. “Now get over yourself and get to work.”

“That’s my line.” Antonio mumbled, though he couldn’t deny that his friend knew just the way to break him out of his moods. Removing the carnation from behind his ear, Antonio got to work himself. He would shop for a new jacket later, but for now, he had a shop to run (and a friend to keep in line)

* * *

Hours later and Antonio was the only one left in his beloved little shop. He settled the books, noting with satisfaction that he was on the cusp of _finally_ turning a profit. He looked around his store with a dopey smile, breathing in the earthy smell and homey atmosphere.

Antonio flipped the lights off, smiling when the beauty and elegance of his flowers wasn’t diminished in the least bit by the sudden darkness. The sun hung low in the sky, the gentle rays pouring through the window and setting his store ablaze with its smoldering light. His lovely dandelions basked in the sunlight, those little weeds just as vibrant as any other flower that filled his shop.

With a contented sigh, Antonio stepped out of the building and onto the street. He turned the key to the door, double-checking that it was locked before turning on his heel to begin his walk home. He took a single step forward, but his foot suddenly met a foreign object that was directly in his path.

“Shit!” Antonio hissed, stumbling quite dramatically. He waved his arms, trying to regain his balance. After he had both feet firmly on the ground, he looked down to see what had nearly sent him tumbling. 

“Is that…” he trailed off, eyes widening in shock. It was his jacket — clean, folded, and pressed. The kid must have had it cleaned, but what was more shocking was a bright pop of color that stood out from the otherwise beige cloth.

There was something placed delicately into the collar of his jacket, a bright yellow weed.

It was a dandelion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness, I absolutely adore mutually-insulting spamano... the sass, I just-
> 
> Lmao, let me know what ya think thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

Antonio rushed through the gentle, dewey morning, not even bothering to pick any flowers or draw little pictures in the fogged-up windows in his haste. For nearly a week, he walked to work with the fleeting hope that he’d see that kid again, but every morning he was disappointed. He wanted to thank him for returning his jacket and maybe prod him into revealing his name, but there wasn’t a trace of the ill-tempered young trespasser.

Hopefully the kid had taken his advice and returned to his family, but something told Antonio that it wasn’t that simple. The boy had been in rough shape, his dirty clothes and matted hair a clear indicator that he called the streets his home. He was skinny, too, and with a pang Antonio realized that he could have at least offered him something to eat. 

Now he was mentally kicking himself for not having the human decency to offer an obviously-struggling young man (he did say he was twenty, right?) food when it would have been literally no skin off his back. Why hadn’t he? Was he really that heartless? Then again, the kid had antagonized him, trespassed on his property, but maybe he didn’t have a choice.

“And those bruises, too.” Antonio mumbled under his breath, recalling the dark mark under his chin. He walked with his eyes stuck to the sidewalk, taking great care not to step on the weeds he saw growing up from the cracks. 

Maybe it was for the best that the kid was gone — Antonio supposed that his building looked more inviting without some homeless delinquent camping out against the side. Even some of the ivy that had been previously crushed was looking much healthier. Truly, this was a blessing.

But what if Antonio ran the kid off of the only safe space he could find? What if the kid had been fleeing whoever put those bruises there? If that was the case, then Antonio was to blame if he got hurt again.

He scowled at the ground, “Stupid kid, making me feel guilty-”

“I’m _not_ a fucking kid.” 

Antonio’s head whipped up, only now realizing that he’d trudged the entirety of his journey without once looking up. He peered down the dark alleyway, eyes lighting up when he saw that familiar figure curled up against his ivy-covered wall. He very nearly smiled at the kid, but was able to hold onto a mildly stern expression as he met those molten eyes. Antonio opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly snapped his jaw shut when he took in the state of his irritating trespasser.

The first thing he noticed was those lovely hazel eyes weren’t shimmering with fire as they normally were, but with tears. His expression was twisted into an odd mixture of contempt and hopelessness. Even the way he slumped against the wall seemed defeated, a hand held protectively around his middle. There was dark bruising around his left eye, although he was doing his absolute best to hide away behind the hood he kept pulled over his head. 

Antonio was at a loss, about a million things frozen on his tongue, but what escaped was, “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

The boy scrunched his shoulders up defensively, although he hissed in pain at the action, “What’s it to ya?”

With an incredulous shake of the head, Antonio took a swift step forward, “You’re hurt.”

“Wow, come to that conclusion all by yourself?” was the snarky retort, although he did shrink back at the sudden approach.

Antonio froze in his forward progress, not wanting to spook the kid off. He stood about two meters away, hands hanging uselessly at his side as he whispered, “Who did this?”

“Why do you care?” he snarled, wiping viciously at his eyes. It was a wonder that he didn’t storm off in a huff, but the hunched manner in which he was sitting indicated that he physically _couldn’t._

With a sigh, Antonio took a step back. Nothing he said was going to get through to his trespasser right now, but there was something he could offer, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

“Like I give a shit.” was the muttered retort.

Antonio ignored him, retreating quickly down the street and into a quiet little coffee shop he was familiar with. He fumbled shakily with the few bills in his pocket, smiling awkwardly at the cashier when he ended up just handing over a crumpled five dollar note. With a rushed shout of, “Keep the change!” Antonio ran back to his own store, hoping that the kid hadn’t run away in his absence.

Thankfully, he was still there huddled against the wall, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. He looked up with a glare when he heard soft footsteps approach him, “Back already? Damn, I thought you were finally out of my life.”

The biting words were once again ignored, Antonio choosing to instead approach him cautiously with outstretched hands, “Here, you look like you need it.” In one hand was a bottle of water, a simple blueberry muffin held gently in the other. 

The kid looked suspiciously at both items, raising one of his eyebrows as he growled, “Do you seriously think I’m accepting food from a stranger?”

Antonio pouted, “How about from an acquaintance?”

“Yeah, an acquaintance that would like nothing better than to get rid of me. Who knows what you did to that food.” he huffed, hugging his knees just a little tighter. “No fucking thank you.”

Suddenly understanding where the hesitation was stemming from, Antonio rolled the bottle over to him, “The bottle is sealed, there’s no way I could have put anything in it.”

The small trespasser raised a suspicious eyebrow up, but picked up the bottle nonetheless. He inspected it carefully, indeed confirming that it was sealed when he tried the cap. 

Smiling a bit sadly at how apprehensive the kid was, Antonio cleared his throat to regain his attention. Wordlessly, he picked off a bite-sized chunk of the muffin and popped it into his mouth, making a show of chewing and swallowing the sweet pastry. Once he was finished, he held the sugary snack out as an offering, “It’s delicious.”

“Are you serious right now?” the boy asked with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, it’s super good. Scout’s honor.” Antonio said solemnly, still holding the muffin out in front of him.

The kid snorted in amusement, “There’s no way your stupid ass was a scout.”

Antonio shrugged, smirking as he echoed the kid’s words from just last week, “Does it matter?”

With one last skeptical look, the kid snatched the food that was offered to him, retreating just as quickly to his spot against the wall. He turned the muffin in his hand, paying particular heed to the chunk that was missing before muttering, “Why?”

Antonio twisted his head to the side, “What do you mean?”

With a drawn out sigh, the brunet gestured to the food in his hand, “Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?”

“It’s just a favor.” Antonio said lightly, though he had no intention of making his trespasser pay him back for this.

When no retort was forthcoming, Antonio stood and walked away. He didn’t think the kid would eat while he was still present, so he was quick to turn the corner and towards his door. He was almost in his store, almost out of earshot when a muffled voice froze him in his tracks:

“Lovino.”

Antonio backtracked, standing at the edge of the alley, “What was that?”

The kid looked disgruntled to say the least, but with some effort he grit out, “Lovino. That’s my name, so you can stop calling me a fucking kid.”

He looked so embarrassed, his face lighting up to that bright carnation red, and suddenly Antonio couldn’t choke back his smile anymore, “It’s nice to meet you, Lovino. My name’s Antonio.”

“I know, dumbass. You have a nametag.” Lovino grumbled under his breath, although his voice wasn’t nearly as hostile.

Antonio managed a breathy laugh at the words, finally turning to enter his shop with the parting words of, “I’ll see you later, Lovino.”

“I fucking hope not!” Lovino yelled after him, the empty words bouncing harmlessly off the coarse, ivy-covered bricks.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Antonio brought Lovino a sandwich he made at his apartment, once again taking a bite himself before handing it off to the ill-tempered vagrant. The exchange was made with as much fuss as the day before, but this time was a little less confrontational:

“Just what are you trying to do here, bastard?” Lovino growled, eyeing the sandwich in his hands with no small amount of suspicion.

“Basic human decency.” Antonio said with a shrug. He stood a handful of feet away, leaning against the wall as he idly sipped a cup of scalding hot coffee.

Lovino quirked an eyebrow up at that, “Seriously?”

“Well, you were hungry. Anybody would do this, I just happen to be convenient.” Antonio huffed, leaving out the fact that the brunet looked like he’d been starving for weeks. It wasn’t like he was worried about the stubborn trespasser or anything, and it was really no trouble to throw together a sandwich in the morning. 

“See, I don’t think you get it.” Lovino grumbled with a characteristic glare. _“Nobody_ would do this — except for you. What are you after?”

“Nothing.” 

“Bullshit.” Lovino snapped, golden irises smoldering as he stared the Spaniard down. “You want me to suck your dick or something?”

Antonio choked on his coffee, devolving into a violent coughing fit. His lungs spasmed as he tried to expel the bitter drink from his windpipe, the straightforward question completely throwing him.

“God damn, it was just a joke, chill.” Lovino huffed, finally taking a tentative bite out of the sandwich.

“Was it a joke?” Antonio asked incredulously, wondering if he’d ever heard such crass language before. When he noticed Lovino peering over him with one of his eyebrows raised, he was quick to backtrack, “Not that I want you to… to do _that._ I just, um…”

“Calm down, I know you don’t.” Lovino laughed, obviously amused by the whole ordeal. “Now seriously, what do you want from me?”

Antonio was still red-faced, but managed to say evenly, “I don’t want anything. You’re loitering outside my business, and honestly the only thing worse than a homeless kid outside of your store is a _starving_ homeless kid outside of your store.”

“I’m _not_ a fucking kid, goddammit.” Lovino huffed, glaring determinedly down at the already half-eaten sandwich. 

Antonio rolled his eyes, “And you’re not homeless either, right?”

“Damn straight.” Lovino mumbled.

Antonio had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes again, instead choosing to take a cautious sip of his coffee. He chanced a quick glance towards Lovino, wondering if that dark bruise around his eye was still present. He quickly deduced that the answer was _yes_ — the mark still standing starkly out on his skin, although it wasn’t nearly as dark anymore.

Actually, the closer he looked, the more Antonio noticed. The bruise was a sickly yellow, accentuating his golden irises in a grotesquely beautiful way. Not that the bruise was a good look — after all, this kid may be annoying but he didn’t deserve to be hurt. Maybe he really wasn’t homeless and was just hiding out from whoever put those marks there… but then again he never had a change of clothes, and his hair looked like he cut it himself. 

Antonio was openly staring now, noting that Lovino always showed up with a new mark or injury, and briefly he wondered if the brunet was picking fights. It was certainly plausible, especially given his abrasive manner of speaking.

Except, Lovino didn’t seem so reckless. Vulgar sure, and probably impulsive too, but definitely not reckless. He was a fighter, a survivor, not some delinquent that so thoughtlessly engaged in self-destructive behaviors… not that Antonio really knew, but he assumed.

“Oi, take a picture, it’ll last longer!” Lovino suddenly yelled.

Antonio jumped, not realizing just how long he’d been staring. It must have been longer than he originally thought because the sandwich in Lovino’s hands was gone, “Sorry.”

“No you’re not.” he grumbled. “If you’ve got something to say, then just say it.”

“Well,” Antonio started nervously, realizing that this was his chance to get answers, “why are you always hurt?”

“Because I’m small and easy to fuck with, next question.” Lovino said dismissively.

Antonio was stunned by the direct answer, not expecting such honesty. He shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it before asking, “Are you picking fights?”

“Does it matter?” Lovino growled, waving a hand flippantly in the air. “I’ve been trying to pick a fight with you for a week, but you haven’t taken the bait. People will do what people will do, and that’s it. Next question.”

“Did you leave a dandelion in my jacket?”

“Obviously. Next.”

“Why?”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not-”

“Right, next question.”

“Oh, I don’t have any more-”

Lovino snorted loudly, effectively shutting him up, “You _obviously_ have another question, it’s written all over your face.”

“It is?” Antonio mumbled curiously, trying to school his face into a more neutral expression. It didn’t work, and at the knowing smirk from a certain trespasser, he asked, “Out of every small business, why are you loitering outside of mine?”

Lovino didn’t immediately answer this time, instead leaning his head against the brick wall to stare at the early-morning sky. He sighed heavily, no longer looking much like the _kid_ Antonio accused him of being, “I already answered that, it’s because you’re fun to piss off.”

Antonio chuckled lightly at that, “You’re a pretty bad liar.”

“And you’re a pretty shitty business-owner.”

“What?”

“I _said-”_

“I heard you, but why would you say that?” Antonio asked with a defined little pout.

Lovino rolled his eyes, gesturing to himself as he said, “You’ve got a dirty, no-good bum camping out on the side of your store. Don’t you know it’s not good for business?”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to tell you that.” Antonio mumbled.

“Yet I’m still here.” Lovino said pointedly, an amused smirk coloring his features.

“I wish you weren’t.” 

Lovino rolled his eyes, turning on his side to settle down for an apparent nap, “Do you, though?” 

Antonio pursed his lips, brow furrowed in irritation, “Of course.”

“Well someone should have told you, then.” Lovino chuckled, pulling his hood up more securely over his head. “You don’t feed a stray, they’ll just keep coming back for more.”

With a heavy sigh, Antonio pushed himself off the wall, “Whatever, be gone by tonight.”

“Fat chance.”

“I can dream.” Antonio grumbled, turning on his heel to disappear into his store. 

Vaguely he thought he could hear a bark of laughter at the remark, but it was promptly ignored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how in the tags I put 'short chapters' but no chapter has been under a thousand words yet so ya know XD


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Antonio noticed when he woke up was just how bright it was. The sun gilded the interior of his little apartment a deep golden, the light streaming in through the curtains and hitting him squarely in the eyes.

Antonio scrunched his face up against the light, groaning in annoyance when a few birds greeted the rising sun with their obnoxious chirping. He rolled over onto his side, sighing heavily in relief when he escaped the piercing rays that so cruelly roused him from a dead sleep.

It was funny, he thought as he settled down once more, usually he was up before the sun dared showed its face to the world. Antonio had to be up early to open his store, and lately he’d been getting into the habit of exchanging a few words (insults) with Lovino before his day truly got underway. Actually, he was planning on talking to his trespasser today before work, so he had to leave before the sun rose… 

“Shit!” Antonio yelled, a sharp glance to the clock indicating that he was indeed late. He twisted to escape the warm clutches of the fluffy blanket on his bed. He flopped comically on the ground, scrambling to get up and get dressed.

He pulled a comb haphazardly through his hair, only vaguely making sure his clothes matched before shoving on his shoes. He brushed his teeth faster than he ever had before, emerging into the kitchen to grab his keys. While he was out there, he snatched a bag of chips for a certain stray that he insisted on feeding despite warnings that he shouldn’t, grabbed his bag, and shot out the front door.

Antonio jogged down the street, noticing the way his breath fogged up in the frigid air. It was starting to get colder as the days grew shorter, and briefly he hoped that Lovino found somewhere warm to stay. With any luck, he found something to eat too. The kid could stand to gain a little weight, and maybe take a shower too. Briefly Antonio wondered just how brightly those golden irises would shine if Lovino washed the dirt from his face, or how lovely a proper smile would look-

“Dammit.” he grumbled, rubbing harshly at his eyes to forcibly dispel those thoughts. It had been gradual, but slowly but surely Antonio was realizing that he was growing _fond_ of that foul-mouthed kid. Each conversation they shared was characterised by biting insults and less than polite insinuations about each other, but he couldn’t deny that they were never particularly nasty exchanges. Hell, he had even given up on trying to get rid of him. Every time he asked Lovino to be gone by sundown the request was ignored — not only that, but Antonio _expected_ the request to be ignored. 

Antonio pursed his lips, jogging just a little faster to try and escape those troublesome thoughts. The kid was a trespasser, and nothing more. One day he would be gone. They would never see each other again, and that was fine.

It wasn’t really fine, but he ignored that traitorous thought.

He was getting closer to his beloved little store, noticing a familiar figure hovering at the edge of the alleyway. It was Francis, that provocative smirk turned towards the only person who could possibly be huddled against those lovely ivy leaves.

“Oh no.” Antonio breathed, picking up the pace when he heard a disgruntled shout of something he couldn’t quite make out. Francis was the last person he wanted to disturb Lovino — the blond had quite a way with words and was sure to scare his little trespasser off.

As he got closer, some of the words became clearer:

“Oh-ho, such a pretty little thing. Why don’t you clean yourself up and we can get to know each other?” Francis purred, leaning nonchalantly against the wall.

Lovino wasn’t crouched against the wall this time, but standing up with clenched fists as he spat, “This _pretty little thing_ can kick your ass, old man. Leave me the fuck alone.”

If Francis was annoyed by the little jab, he didn’t show it, “My, my, such language. Tell me, just how old are you, my dear?”

Lovino’s face went a strange shade of scarlet, “Old enough to spot creeps like you.”

“Ah, so old enough to spend a night with creeps like me?” Francis chuckled, taking a step forward.

Antonio swiftly approached, but still held his tongue. He fully expected (and wanted) Lovino to mouth off again, to put his obnoxious friend in his place, but in an action that completely baffled him, Lovino scrambled back:

“Just stay away from me!” he yelled, his voice uncharacteristically shaky.

Francis smirked, completely ignoring him in favor of asking, “What’s your name, darling? I would very much like to know.”

“I bet you would, fuckface.” Lovino growled.

“Hmm, what’s that I see on your neck?” Francis drawled, raising his eyebrows suggestively. 

Lovino instantly pulled his hood up at the remark, taking another step back, “Just get the fuck away from me, I’ll beat your fucking ass!”

“Is that a promise?” Francis winked.

Antonio scowled, an ugly feeling worming its way into his heart. He didn’t like the way Lovino edged away, every muscle tense like he was prepared to bolt. He was clearly uncomfortable, so without another thought Antonio drew in a deep breath and bellowed, “Francis, step the hell off!”

Francis jumped, whipping around with a sheepish smile, “Oh, Antonio! My apologies, I was just-”

“Harassing some homeless kid?” Antonio finished sharply for him, marching up to his wide-eyed friend and yanking him back by the collar. “What gives you the right to come onto him like that?”

“Well, he started it.” Francis mumbled petulantly.

“And I’m ending it!” Antonio tugged him harshly around the corner and out of view of the alleyway. He released the grip on his collar, crossing his arms angrily over his chest.

Francis rubbed the back of his neck, flashing a nervous smile, “C’mon, I was just messing with him.”

Antonio scoffed, “And he was clearly uncomfortable, so why didn’t you stop?”

“You know I wouldn’t try anything!” Francis implored, gesturing loosely with his hands as he tried to absolve himself, “Besides, he really did start it.”

The fact that Lovino started the fight wasn’t all that surprising, but Antonio could still feel something hot and ugly sit heavily in his stomach. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the feeling was, but just the memory of how Lovino had scrambled back in fear was enough for him to feel hot all over again, “Go home.”

“But I have to-”

“Go home, Francis!” Antonio growled, pointing sharply down the street. “Come back when you learn to keep it in your pants.”

Francis sighed, but nodded nonetheless. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he sauntered off, leaving Antonio with the fleeting remark, “Don’t get too attached, _mon ami,_ you’ll only get hurt.”

Antonio just pointed down the street again, keeping the glare in place as Francis waved him goodbye. His friend always flirted so openly with people, but he had no right picking on some defenseless kid camped out on the side of his building. 

“Speaking of which…” Antonio mumbled under his breath, turning back down the alleyway. 

Lovino was there, leaning against the wall with his hood still drawn. He had a hand pushed over his eyes, not even looking up when he muttered, “Is the fuckface gone?”

Antonio nodded, “Yeah, I sent him home.”

“Good riddance.” he grumbled, sinking slowly to the ground where he hugged his knees to his chest.

Antonio’s face twisted in worry, taking a tentative step forward. He approached slowly, sitting down cautiously roughly two feet away from his shaken trespasser. Lovino didn’t so much as twitch, his entire demeanor feeling decidedly _off._ Antonio bit his lip nervously, fidgeting loosely with his hands before asking, “Are you okay?”

Lovino groaned loudly in annoyance, bending down to rest his head on top of his knees, “I’ll be fine, bastard.”

“Why did that bother you so much?” Antonio asked curiously, thinking that this was a rather intense reaction from someone who had (jokingly or not) offered his… _services_ to him just yesterday.

Lovino scoffed, lifting his head up in favor of glaring, “I’m sorry, are you telling me that I should be okay with strangers suggesting I’m some kind of whore for sale?”

Antonio jumped, once again shocked at such vulgar language. He didn’t think that Francis had been insinuating that at all — the man was flirtatious, but he had morals. His friend had simply pushed things too far, but Antonio believed him when he said that he wouldn’t try anything, “Not that it matters, but Francis wouldn’t have touched you. I’ll have another word with him, he’s just a bit of a handful sometimes.”

“You need better fucking friends.” Lovino huffed, swiping viciously at his eyes. “There’s some real creeps out there, and I’ve learned to keep my distance.”

The remark didn’t sit well with Antonio, but he doubted he’d be able to uncover what he meant by that. Instead, he reached into his bag and offered the bag of chips he grabbed earlier, “Here, you should eat something.”

Lovino looked at him strangely, accepting the bag of chips without the usual fuss. He looked down to the food in his hands, then back up curiously, “Were you serious about not wanting anything from me?”

Antonio sighed, saying slowly and deliberately, “Yes, Lovino. I was being serious.”

“Oi, don’t cop a fucking attitude with me.” Lovino growled, clearly displeased with the patronizing tone he’d been met with. 

“I wouldn’t dare.” Antonio laughed, hauling himself up when Lovino started munching on the chips. With a languid stretch, he turned to vacate the alleyway, but an irritated voice gave him pause:

“Are you gonna say it?”

Antonio turned with a raised eyebrow, “Say what?”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Are you gonna tell me that I need to be gone by tonight? Or how bad I look for business?”

With a long-suffering sigh, Antonio said, “You won’t listen, so what’s the point?”

Lovino smirked, "You're finally catching on."

Vaguely Antonio felt like he just surrendered something to this annoying kid, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He was already thinking ahead to the long day that was in store for him — after all, he was officially short-staffed without the help of his obnoxious friend. So without another word, he turned out of the alleyway and into his little shop.

Francis had quite the lecture in store for him whenever the man dared to show his face again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, I actually adore Francis so this is totally not trying to bash him here XD
> 
> Lol thanks for reading and stuff, lemme know what you think ;)


	6. Part 1

The next couple days were an irritating game of hide-and-seek. Lovino was clearly still edgy after the whole debacle with Francis, so he’d taken the liberty of hiding away whenever the blond showed up for work. Antonio had no idea where he went whenever he ran, but he definitely stuck close by because he was always back in the evening.

In fact, the sun was going down now, so chances were that Lovino would be out there when his shift was over. He looked forward to it, a fact he’d only admit silently to himself. That didn’t make Antonio any less annoyed at his friend for creating this situation, but Francis had sworn that he wouldn’t try anything again. Even so, the damage was done, and now Antonio had to reap the consequences.

The sudden _smack_ of the front door followed closely by a faint jingle of bells alerted Antonio to a new presence. He looked up, a polite greeting on his tongue, when he was suddenly blown away by a shrill: “Ay Toni! I hear you’ve been pissy, so the awesome me is here to snap you out of it!”

Antonio nearly took a step back at the volume, but recovered just in time for his brain to connect that voice to a face. He smiled, sidestepping the tall counter to approach his boisterous friend, “Gil! When did you get here?”

Gilbert stood in the middle of the store, hands on either one of his hips. Everything about him was blinding, from his brilliant smile to his pure white features. The albino didn’t visit often, but when he did he always made a scene, “Flew in this afternoon, so I thought I’d drop by.”

“It’s good to see you!” Antonio laughed, launching himself at the albino.

Gilbert caught him with a bark of laughter, indulging the Spaniard by returning the hug, “You too, dude.”

With one final squeeze, Antonio pulled away. There wasn’t anybody in his store, and with only ten minutes until he closed, he figured it would be alright to just lock up now. He ran back to the counter and grabbed the key, turning to Gilbert with a smile, “I’m guessing you’re gonna want to grab a drink or two?”

“Or three, or four.” Gilbert cackled with an obnoxious wink. “Franny is going to meet us there.”

And just like that, Antonio remembered his earlier irritation. He should really be over it by now, but he was extraordinarily skilled at holding grudges when something really pissed him off. 

Gilbert smacked him upside the head, “So this is what Franny meant. Snap out of it dude, no moping while the awesome me is here.”

Antonio hissed in pain, bringing a hand up to where he’d been hit. He glared half-heartedly at his friend, “I’m not moping. Francis was in here earlier, it’ll be fine.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, but smirked nonetheless “Just don’t fly off the handle or anything, tonight is going to be awesome!”

“You say that about every night.” Antonio huffed, but moved to gather the rest of his things.

“That’s because _I’m_ awesome.” Gilbert laughed.

Chuckling at the characteristic response, Antonio threw on his jacket and led the obnoxious albino out of the store. He nearly shivered when the harsh chill sliced through his body, hugging an arm around his middle as he locked the door. Antonio turned the corner towards the alleyway, intent on wishing Lovino a good night (and probably offering his jacket as well) only to be met by dull emptiness and deafening silence. 

Antonio tried to shake the disappointment that hollowed out his chest, but was dismayed to find that it wasn’t really working. He thought that Lovino would be there for sure, and he hoped that the scruffy kid hadn’t run off for good.

Gilbert threw an arm around Antonio’s shoulders, steering him away from the alleyway, “That’s a nice little alley you got there, but I know a place that’s a bit more fun.”

“Is it a bar?” 

“It’s a bar!” Gilbert shouted, pulling his friend more swiftly down the sidewalk. “We have got to do something about that attitude, and something tells me that booze is just what you need!”

“I don’t have an attitude.” Antonio grumbled under his breath.

Gilbert laughed by way of response, his scarlet eyes accentuated by the dwindling light and chalky skin. The albino babbled about anything and everything on the way to the bar, and Antonio was beginning to loosen up. 

Well, until he spotted Francis outside of the bar.

“Gilbert, _mon cher,_ it’s great to see you!” the blond chirped, instantly pulling the albino in for a hug.

“Yeah, yeah, keep your hands to yourself.” Gilbert grumbled, although the gleam in his eye clearly spelled out his amusement.

Francis smirked, “Ah, but you make it so difficult. Honestly, I would love an excuse to just-”

“And I am going to stop you right there!” Gilbert yelled, grabbing Antonio by the arm to drag him into the building. “I’m not near drunk enough to deal with your bullshit.”

Antonio nodded in agreement, almost laughing at the way Francis pouted. The blond followed them into the establishment, a rather nice bar that was already filled to the brim with drunken laughter and music so loud it was nearly unbearable. The night was young, but apparently it was still late enough to entice a sizable crowd that was already clamoring for a place at the bar.

“Oh yeah, it’s good to be back!” Gilbert yelled, already making a beeline to the nearest bartender.

Antonio watched him go, shaking his head at his friend’s excitable nature. It was likely the albino planned to drink himself silly, especially with the way he was chatting up the bartender — no doubt trying to charm his way into some free drinks from the pretty young woman. It was bound to be a long night, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

“I missed this.” Francis sighed theatrically, taking in the room with a wistful sort of nostalgia. 

Antonio nodded in agreement, “Where did the years go?”

_“Pfft,_ you’re one to talk!” Francis cried, throwing his hands up dramatically. “You’re so young, only twenty-four!”

With a little smirk, Antonio shot back, “And you’re only twenty-nine.”

“Almost thirty!” Francis shouted, looking close to (fabricated) tears. “My years of beauty are numbered, and then what am I to do?”

Antonio was truly laughing now, some of his annoyance beginning to fade, “Maybe you could find a personality, I’m sure you have one buried somewhere.”

Francis recoiled with a hand over his chest, “Excuse you, but who needs a personality when you look like _this?”_

“You’re right, you’re going to need _much_ more than just a personality to get a date.” Antonio snarked back, walking to the spot where he saw Gilbert waving them over.

Francis scrambled to catch up with him, his face an odd mixture of indignant and crestfallen, “How cruel! Toni, my exquisite Spanish flower, how could you?”

Antonio rolled his eyes, “You’re not off my shit list just yet, so be happy I’m being this nice.”

“I’m sorry, Toni, truly I am.” Francis said sincerely, although he still threw a playful arm around his shoulders.

Antonio didn’t retaliate, instead sighing heavily as he made the decision to just let it go. It’s not like Francis meant to scare off his little trespasser, and his friend really wasn’t a cruel person. He simply liked to antagonize, and unfortunately it backfired this time around.

“Toni, Franny, it took you two long enough!” Gilbert yelled, shoving a drink into each of their hands. “C’mon, let’s get this going!” 

“Eager tonight, aren’t we?” Francis remarked, but brought the glass of beer to his lips.

“Man, I’ll tell you what, I need a fucking drink.” Gilbert huffed, downing about half the glass in one go.

Antonio found a barstool and promptly sat down, choosing to instead sip out of his glass, “Why do you say that?”

“Ugh, my stupid brother.” Gilbert whined, plopping down heavily in the seat next to the Spaniard. “Ever since he got accepted at that stupid university he’s no fun anymore.”

“Does he still live at home?” Francis asked curiously.

“No, he moved in with his boyfriend.” At the words, Gilbert started whining again, _“Gott,_ I don’t know how Ludwig got so lucky.”

“A new boyfriend, you say?” Francis’s eyes twinkled in interest. “Do tell us more.”

Gilbert downed the second half of the beer, calling for another one before answering, “Oh man, I think I’m in love.” 

Antonio laughed at how forlorn the albino sounded, “With your brother’s boyfriend?”

“Kinky.” Francis mumbled.

Gilbert glared at the frenchman, turning back to Antonio with a sharp nod, “He’s got himself a total Italian _babe._ I mean he’s not only a complete sweetheart and just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, but his family is stupid rich.”

“Rich you say?” Francis purred. “Tell me, any siblings that may be available?”

Gilbert sighed, waving his hand vaguely in the air. “Apparently that’s a touchy subject, he doesn't like to talk about it.”

Francis pouted, “Pity.” 

“Did they meet at school?” Antonio asked, noting with some worry that Gilbert was almost two beers in.

_“Ja,_ and they’re like all over each other all the time. I can’t take it anymore!” he yelled, letting his head fall on the counter with a dull _thump._

“Sounds like you’re jealous.” Francis prodded playfully.

“Whatever, I’m done talking about this.” Gilbert announced, grabbing a menu to review all his options.

While Antonio was just a tad concerned with how much his friend was drinking, he knew that his tolerance was insane enough to handle it. He himself had only barely started on his drink, so without a second thought, he downed as much of his beer as he could in one drink.

“Oh yeah, that’s what I like to see, Toni!” Gilbert shrieked, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

It was the beginning of a long night — one that didn’t end even after they stepped foot out of the bar and onto the cold, dangerous streets outside…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the title says, this is part one of this chapter! The next one should be up before too much longer.
> 
> Lmao, it's so nice to have most of this story already written, it is SO much easier to just edit and post haha XD
> 
> Also, I fucking love Gilbert??? Like he's so fun and obnoxious, omg my boy.


	7. Part 2

Antonio stumbled out of the bar rather clumsily, pitching forward with a few choice words before straightening up. It was difficult to walk, the reason having nothing to do with the amount of alcohol he had in his system, but because of the surprisingly heavy albino that was using him as a crutch. Antonio was actually stone cold sober, therefore he was the de facto babysitter of the night.

“Toni, m’good. Seriously… like _so_ good right now.” Gilbert mumbled, trying to push himself away.

Antonio rolled his eyes, keeping his arm firmly around his friend as he said, “I already called a cab, just stand still.”

“What ‘bout you?” the albino slurred, laughing when he nearly tripped on the sidewalk.

“I’m not drunk, I’ll just walk.” Antonio answered, adjusting his grip on his friend.

Francis sauntered up to them, not yet stumbling, but still intoxicated, “Would you like an escort, _mon beau?”_ he asked with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

It wasn’t clear who the words were for, but Antonio answered him anyway, “I need you to go with Gil, he shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“Mmm, with pleasure.” Francis purred, slipping an arm around the albino’s waist.

“I’ll bite your fucking dick off.” Gilbert growled, but leaned into the blond when he was passed off.

Francis smirked, “I wasn’t aware we would get that far.”

“Ha, y’wish.” was the slurred response, Gilbert completely succumbing to his own inebriated state and slumping over.

The cab Antonio called pulled up along the curb a short time later, and he walked over to assist Francis in maneuvering Gilbert into the car. It took a few minutes (and a lot of muffled cursing), but in the end they were able to push the albino in an upright position. 

Antonio turned to Francis with an appreciative smile, “Are you sure you can handle him by yourself?”

Francis dismissed his concerns with a flippant wave of the hand, “I’ve dealt with him before, we’ll be just fine.”

_“Gracias,_ just text me if you need any help.” Antonio said with a soft smile.

Francis ducked into the car, waving with a short, “Of course, I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.” Antonio breathed, stepping away from the street to watch the car amble away. He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes clear of the sudden blurriness. He had stopped drinking around an hour ago, and right now fighting exhaustion was a much more difficult challenge than shaking off any lingering effects of alcohol in his veins.

He began walking down the sidewalk, the cold glare of fluorescent street lights illuminating his way through the dead city. Antonio peered up, trying to catch just a glimpse of the stars twinkling high above the towering skyscrapers. He thought he could see just the faintest speck of shimmering light, but in the end it was smothered by the oppressive glow of the city.

With a sigh, Antonio cast his gaze to the chipped and faded sidewalk below. He smiled softly when he spotted some dandelions growing up from the cracks, once again marvelling at their resilience. It was getting colder every day, and before long those beautiful yellow weeds would wither away. It was almost a tragedy, but he found solace in the fact that they would grow back come spring.

A few cars buzzed by, but the sidewalks were barren. It was rare for the city to be suspended in such hushed stillness, even that brutal breeze from earlier pausing in its cutting flow. It was peaceful, calming, and in the moment all was well.

Antonio walked on, shivering only once every few minutes as he enjoyed his late-night stroll. He hardly heard the soft rumble of footsteps swiftly approaching, only vaguely registering the sound when he heard the gait stumble just the slightest bit. He was too suspended in the moment, too content to be aware of his surroundings until a body crashed violently into him.

Antonio gasped in surprise, pitching forward as his body was almost sent sprawling. He miraculously remained standing, his heart hammering wildly when a hand gripped his arm in a painfully tight hold, “What-”

“Pretend you know me.” hissed a desperately scared-sounding voice.

The voice sounded familiar, and Antonio very nearly jumped when he recognized a pair of blazing golden irises reflecting harshly off the sharp street lights, “Lovino?”

Lovino looked just as shocked when he realized who he’d grabbed a hold of, but was quick to get over it in favor of tightening his grip. He had his hood up, seeming to hide away as he whispered, “I’m being followed.”

Nodding slowly in understanding, Antonio continued to walk on like normal. His stride betrayed nothing of any anxiety he may have felt, instead gripping Lovino’s arm back as he steered them down the street. He took them down towards the general direction of his store, his heart skipping a beat when Lovino pressed more firmly into his side.

Now that they were so close, Antonio couldn’t help but notice little details. The first of which was just how small his little trespasser was — he barely came up to his shoulder, and he was much skinnier than what his baggy clothing revealed. Lovino kept his gaze fixed firmly on the sidewalk, the faint bruising around his eye even more pronounced under the artificial lighting, his oily hair spilling out from his hood. 

Antonio resisted the urge to throw his arm around his shivering frame, instead deciding to indulge in his curiosity, “Who’s following you?”

“Does it matter?” Lovino instantly hissed back, his breathing coming out in panicked little puffs.

Of course it mattered, but Antonio wasn’t going to start an argument right now, “Are you okay?”

Lovino kept that gaze resolutely down, “I’m-”

“Lovino!”

The boy in question stiffened, but he didn’t turn around. The sudden sound of footsteps once again pierced the still atmosphere, but still they walked calmly on. Those footsteps were getting closer, and Lovino started whispering something under his breath, “I don’t know him, please don’t let him touch me.”

Antonio nodded, intent on protecting the small figure from whoever was apparently after him. He kept walking, but was forced to turn around when somebody grabbed his shoulder:

“Hey, who the hell are you?” growled an irate, middle-aged man, all dressed up in formal business attire. He had jet black hair slicked neatly back, his face clean-shaven with a fierce glare. The man was just a few centimeters taller than Antonio himself, but they had a similar build. He had expensive taste judging by the watch that sat on his wrist, the cologne he was wearing in excess making Antonio want to gag. Everything about him screamed pretentiousness, including the possessive way he was staring at a certain foul-mouthed vagrant.

That inkling of protectiveness Antonio felt before now exploded at the sharp look the man shot Lovino. He smiled dangerously, throwing an arm around the smaller’s shoulders as he chirped, “I’m Lovi’s boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you!”

The man recoiled just the slightest bit, eyes raking over the arm around Lovino’s shoulder with obvious disdain, “You’re seriously dating this street rat?”

Antonio nodded, his smile turning ever more sharp as he pulled Lovino more firmly into his side, “I sure am! We were just walking home, weren’t we _cariño?”_

“Yeah, we should really get going.” Lovino squeaked, a far cry from his normal biting tone.

“I agree. Let’s get you home, love.” Antonio purred, but his eyes were fixed on the greasy man in front of him.

They tried to walk away, but the man halted their forward progress with a heavy hand to Antonio’s shoulder, “Excuse me, but I don’t think I believe you.”

Antonio refused to let that smile fall, “Excuse me, but I don’t think I care.”

The man’s scowl deepened, removing his hand to instead hover over Lovino, “You still owe me.”

“Piss off.” Lovino growled, although he shrunk away when the man took a step closer.

Antonio took a large step back, taking Lovino back with him. The man glared after them, but didn’t follow. Instead he turned on his heel and stalked away, shouting angrily over his shoulder, “We’re not done.”

“Piece of fucking shit.” Lovino muttered under his breath, but it was too soft to be properly heard by anyone but Antonio. His shoulders slumped heavily in relief, most of the tension leaving his body when the man was fully out of view. 

He twisted out of Antonio’s grasp, wrapping both arms around his middle to keep warm. Antonio was feeling just a bit disgruntled at the loss of contact, but allowed Lovino to retreat. He looked uncomfortable to say the least, not looking up from the cool pavement below, “Why the hell are you out here this late?”

Antonio managed a sharp bark of laughter, but it was subdued, “You’re welcome.”

Lovino snapped his eyes up with a glare, “I didn’t need your help.”

“You asked for my help.” Antonio pointed out.

Lovino scoffed, but didn’t respond. It was likely he didn’t have a retort for that, so he instead fell silent as he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. He was clearly freezing, but refused to complain — which was pointless because every couple seconds or so his body would betray him by violently shivering.

Antonio sighed loudly, “Who was that?”

Lovino’s body went rigid again, shooting a wary glance over his shoulder, “I told you earlier, I don’t know.”

Well that was a lie if Antonio had ever heard one, “He said your name.”

“Lucky guess.” Lovino huffed.

Antonio scoffed, “That’s not exactly a common name.”

Lovino shifted awkwardly, tightening his arms around his middle as he cast another apprehensive look over his shoulder. He sighed, biting nervously at his lip before muttering, “He’s just some stupid asshole who won’t leave me alone, I’ll be fine.”

Suddenly remembering what he said earlier, Antonio asked, “You didn’t want him to touch you?”

“Well, would you want some greasy son of a bitch trying to cop a feel?” Lovino huffed.

Antonio’s face twisted in worry, wondering if he meant to reveal that or not, “Are you saying that he’s harassing you?”

“Does it matter?” Lovino growled, falling back on that phrase he so often used when he wanted to dismiss something.

But Antonio wouldn’t let him shrug this off, “Yes, it matters a lot! You shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of treatment.”

“What would you know?” Lovino snarled, another shiver punctuating his next statement, “I deal with stupid assholes like him all the time, _that kind of treatment_ is just a normal fucking night.”

Antonio felt his blood run cold, not liking where this was going at all, “What do you owe him?”

“I don’t owe him anything!” Lovino yelled, stomping his foot harshly on the ground. “He doesn’t fucking own me!”

Antonio put his hands up in a position of surrender, “Woah, easy, I never said that.”

“Well you fucking implied it!” Lovino fumed, hands gripped into fists at his sides.

“I really didn’t.” Antonio said, sighing heavily when he was still met by a fierce glare. He tried to scan over the small figure for injuries, disgruntled that he couldn’t really see, “Is that who’s hurting you?”

“He’s one of the fuckers.” Lovino growled, absently pulling his hood a little more firmly over his head, “I got him back, though. Piece of shit is still bitter about it too.” he smirked at that, looking pleased.

But Antonio was anything but pleased, “So you are picking fights.”

“Only when they deserve it.” Lovino grumbled, his smirk fading when a shiver ripped through his frame. He shoved his hands into his armpits, tucking his head down as his body shook. That threadbare hoodie really was useless against the crisp night air, and it was doubtful that he had somewhere warm to go.

He looked miserable, and all at once Antonio could feel his previous irritation flood out of him, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Lovino sighed, “I’ll be fine, bastard.”

Antonio was torn. On one hand, he knew next to nothing about this scruffy vagrant or what he was dealing with. Beyond what was revealed tonight, Lovino was a complete mystery to him. He was loud, vulgar, and argumentative as all hell, but he wasn’t mean-spirited. Tonight only seemed to prove it — he was clearly just trying to survive, and Antonio couldn’t fault him for that. Lovino was a troubled twenty-year old who shouldn’t have to deal with pretentious middle-aged men who only sought to use him. It was cruel, and Antonio didn’t think he deserved it in the least bit. 

He didn’t know how much he should trust Lovino, but the only actions Antonio was in control of were his own. He just hoped that his actions would be enough, “Do you have a safe place to go tonight?”

Lovino whipped his head up, a flash of fear running through his eyes before he could mask it. He shook his head, “I don’t remember the last time I’ve had a safe place to go.”

The words were revealing in a way that Antonio doubted Lovino was fully aware of. He had to shake his head to dispel the sudden sadness in his heart, clearing his throat before gesturing down the street, “Follow me, I know a place.”

Lovino shifted from foot to foot, some of his usual snappy attitude lost to a mixture of apprehension and confusion, “I’m not going back to your apartment.”

“No, you’re not.” Antonio agreed, pulling a key out of his pocket before saying, “You already loiter outside of my store, I think it’s high time I let you see the inside of it.”

Understanding dawned on Lovino’s face, something like relief coloring his expression as he took a tentative step forward, “I bet it’s just as shitty as the outside.”

Antonio laughed, glad to see a glimpse of the normal Lovino returning. He led him down the street, although Lovino trailed him from a distance. It was like he didn’t want to get too close even though they’d been wrapped around each other just a short while ago. The walk was short, Antonio having started the trip back to his beloved little store during the pursuit earlier. He unlocked the door, breathing out a short sigh of relief when the warm air enveloped him.

Lovino stepped in with wide-eyes, although it was clear that he was trying to mask his fascination with the endless bunches and vases of flowers. Strangely enough, his gaze was immediately stolen by the vase of wildflowers, walking over to run a delicate finger over one of the dandelions. 

“So what do you think?” Antonio asked nervously, not sure why he was waiting for approval from someone who’d never give it. 

“It’s… nice.” he mumbled, still looking curiously at the dandelions. 

Antonio nearly jumped at the compliment, “Really?”

Lovino must have realized what he said because he whipped around with a fierce scowl, “It’s warm, so I guess it’ll do.”

With a fond roll of the eyes, Antonio guided Lovino towards a bench he kept behind the counter. It was an old park bench he’d placed there partly for the aesthetic and partly because it was fairly comfortable to sit on when he had time to rest. He removed his jacket and put it down, “I wish I had a blanket or a pillow, but this is all I can offer.”

Lovino nodded, sitting gingerly down. All that bravado from earlier seemed to be subdued when faced with such kindness, and it was obvious that he didn’t know how to respond to something like this. His brow was furrowed in confusion, looking up to Antonio curiously, “You don’t want anything out of me, right?”

Antonio sighed loudly, throwing his hands up in the air as he huffed, “How many times do I have to say that I don’t want anything out of you? Is it really so hard to accept that?”

“I mean…” Lovino trailed off, fidgeting loosely with his hands before whispering, “People don’t do things for free, that’s the first thing I learned out there.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you.” Antonio said, crossing his arms securely over his chest. “The only thing I ask is that you don’t steal from me over the night.”

“Oi, I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a fucking thief.” Lovino growled.

Antonio nodded, “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He started walking away, contemplating calling a cab after all when Lovino spoke up, “Wait, that fuckface isn’t going to molest me in my sleep, right?

Antonio held up his key, “I’m the only one who can unlock the door from the outside. If you really have to leave, please use the back door — it locks automatically.”

Lovino nodded, shoulders relaxing as he slumped against the bench. He really did look exhausted, and it was with an intense kind of sadness that he realized that he’d probably been dealing with men like the one who’d cornered them all night.

Now trying to resist the urge to launch into another round of questioning, Antonio turned on his heel and walked away. He was a little shocked that Lovino accepted his help so readily, but then again it really was unbearably cold outside. Like he was thinking earlier, Lovino was a survivor and if surviving meant relying on a stranger for a warm place to sleep, then it wasn’t all that surprising that he would.

“Um…” whispered a nervous voice, one that was clearly struggling for their words.

Antonio turned around, nearly laughing at the irritated face Lovino was pulling. He waited patiently for him to speak, and wasn’t disappointed when he said, “Thanks.”

With a soft smile, Antonio nodded, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Lovino’s face was a deep red, and he turned sharply on his side so he was facing away before mumbling, “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Antonio couldn’t deny how warm those words made him feel, and even after he locked up his store and began his cold trudge home, he still felt content. Maybe Lovino was finally coming around, and maybe he could get the scruffy kid some help. At the very least, he could get him off the streets, and Antonio knew just the way to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay maybe I should just delete the 'short chapters' tag because I CLEARLY have no self-control XD
> 
> Lemme know what ya think or whatevs, the support for this is already pretty heartwarming so thanks :)
> 
> I would also just like to put it out there that short!Lovino is absolutely my life and I will die with that - that is all.


	8. Chapter 8

Antonio trudged through the crisp morning, taking great care not to trip over his own feet in his exhaustion. Everything around him looked blurry in one way or another, the only thing keeping him awake was the cool morning air. He was running on only a few hours of sleep, and he knew that it was painfully obvious. He ambled like a zombie towards his little flower shop, the sun only barely peeking over the horizon as he dug around in his pocket for the key.

Despite the exhaustion he felt, he was energized at the prospect of talking to Lovino. The fiery little vagrant always brought out his competitive spirit, and besides that Antonio had an offer he was excited to put on the table. With any hope, Lovino would at least consider it, although he tended to be a bit of a loose cannon.

Antonio rubbed away some lingering bleariness in his vision before softly turning the key, taking great care to push the door silently open on the chance that Lovino was still asleep. He padded his way quietly inside, smiling contentedly when he saw how the watery sunshine reflected off his lovely flowers. He walked slowly behind the counter, his smile only growing by what he saw there.

Lovino was indeed still slumbering on, his body curled tightly around his jacket. It was almost cute the way his eyelashes fell delicately over his cheeks, and even the way his hair splayed haphazardly over his forehead lended itself to an innocent sort of charm that he didn’t otherwise possess when he was awake. Warm breaths poured steadily out of barely-parted lips, his hood having long since fallen away to allow the sun’s rays to dance playfully over his skin.

He looked at peace, and far younger than he really was. Antonio pondered that, wondering if Lovino had been truthful when he revealed his age. Thus far he’d been honest, if not vague with his words, so it was likely that he really was twenty years old. Even so, he shouldn’t be out on the streets at this age — Antonio couldn’t imagine how he himself would cope, and he had at least four years on Lovino.

With a sigh, Antonio leaned back against the counter and watched. The store didn’t open for another thirty minutes, and Lovino looked like he needed the sleep. The shock of seeing his young trespasser in such a vulnerable position was wearing off, and Antonio could start making out some features that weren’t so innocent in nature.

The first thing he noticed was the most obvious — the yellowed bruising around his left eye. It was growing fainter by the day, but the fact that it was still visible indicated that it was a rather brutal injury. It made him look sickly, and especially when he was so deeply unconscious. Juxtaposing the faded yellow were heavy, purple smudges under his eyes. There was no way Lovino slept on a normal schedule, and the way he didn’t so much as twitch as Antonio stood hovering over him only confirmed it in his mind.

Antonio frowned, unable to help feeling something like pity in his chest. He wanted to lean forward and wipe a smudge of dirt away from his cheek, but resisted the temptation. After the interaction with that greasy man last night, Antonio doubted Lovino would take well to being touched. 

Actually, now that he was really looking, Antonio thought he could spot something rather peculiar on either side of Lovino’s neck — deep, purple bruising in the form of thin stripes. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look without disturbing the slumbering form. When Francis had made a remark about something on his neck days ago, Antonio had expected to find a hickey or something of the sort, not _this._

He backed off, lips twisted to the side as he contemplated this new tidbit of information. The bruising must have been there last night, but it had been so dark he couldn’t see it. The purple marks were tinged yellow on the edges, and vaguely he thought they looked like fingers. With a jolt Antonio connected the dots — somebody had tried to strangle him. It would definitely explain why he’d been so panicked last night, but these marks only made Lovino more of a mystery.

“What am I going to do with you?” Antonio mumbled under his breath, back to leaning against the counter.

But apparently his muttered words were heard. Lovino jerked awake, wide hazels snapping open to meet Antonio’s. He didn’t immediately sit up, but he did look around in confusion before the events of the previous night crashed into him. He pushed himself up on one of his elbows, taking in a shuddering breath before saying, “Were you seriously watching me sleep? That’s pretty creepy, you know.”

Antonio snorted in amusement, somehow finding Lovino’s ability to mouth off mere moments after waking up entirely unsurprising. Feeling just a spark of mischief, Antonio pushed some of his concerns to the side to instead tease, “I couldn’t look away. The way you curled up around my jacket was just too cute, Lovi!” 

Lovino looked down, confirming that he was indeed curled around Antonio’s jacket before scrambling away on the bench. He glared at the jacket, then back at Antonio before growling, “Oi, I let you call me that yesterday because you were acting, but don’t think I’ll let you get away with it anymore!”

“But Lovi!” Antonio whined, almost breaking down in boisterous laughter at the way his glare sharpened. 

“Shut the fuck up, I’ve got things to do today, and…” he whipped his head to the side, apparently looking for something, “and, I-” his eyes went wide as he continued his search. “Oh my God, where is it?”

Antonio twisted his head curiously to the side, “What are you looking for?”

“My bag!” Lovino snapped, launching himself off the bench to check underneath it. 

Antonio remembered the small draw-string bag Lovino carried with him, although he was usually curled protectively around it when he sat in the alleyway. He thought back to last night, trying to recall if it had been present during the stressful turn of events.

“No, I think it’s gone!” Lovino nearly yelled, his eyes filling with tears as his search bordered on frantic. “I can’t fucking believe this, that piece of shit must have nabbed it while I was-” he abruptly cut himself off when he locked eyes with Antonio, instantly ripping his gaze away to bury his face in his hands.

Antonio watched wide-eyed as Lovino tried to get a hold of himself from his place on the ground. This behavior seemed wildly out of character, and Antonio was getting seriously worried, “What was in your bag?”

Lovino choked on a bark of laughter, “Only everything I fucking own.”

Well that was fairly vague. Antonio kneeled down next to him, not daring to reach out and touch him when he was this volatile. Instead he lowered his voice, saying in the most reassuring tone he could muster, “I’m sure it’ll be alright. What exactly did you have in there?”

Lovino sniffled, swiping viciously at his eyes as he slowly let the hand fall from his face. He peered up at Antonio with a watery gaze, his combative attitude having completely dissipated, “I-I was saving some money up so I could stop sleeping against fucking buildings, and I was _so_ close!” he cried — actually _cried_ — in despair. “I don’t want to freeze anymore, a-and I’m sick of dealing with creeps every night. I was so, _so_ fucking close dammit!”

Antonio’s heart dropped at the words, feeling pain for this struggling kid who just couldn’t seem to catch a break, “I’m sorry, can we go to the police maybe?” 

“No!” Lovino instantly shouted. “No, they’ll recognize me. Please, don’t call them.”

While Antonio wanted to know exactly what he meant by that, he nodded his agreement, “Okay, I won’t, but what are you going to do?”

Lovino went rigid, mouth opening and closing rather comically as he floundered for a response. He swiped at his eyes again, nodding softly to himself as he came to some kind of conclusion, “I’m gonna track that fucker down.”

Antonio almost choked on his own breath in shock, instantly shaking his head, “Okay, I’m not going to lie — that sounds like an awful idea.”

Those golden flecks in Lovino’s eyes turned molten with tears, “What else am I going to do? Do you know how fucking long I’ve been out there? I can’t do it anymore, I’m not taking this lying down.”

He looked like he was going to launch up and storm out the door, so Antonio laid a hand on his shoulder as a preemptive move to keep him in place, “Don’t just jump in without thinking first, you could end up hurt!”

Lovino tried to shrug off the hand on his shoulder, but was quickly finding that he couldn’t. So instead, he glared, “I don’t care, he can’t steal from me and expect to get away with it!”

“But you’re already hurt, and don’t think I forgot how scared you were last night.” Antonio pointed out, looking intently at his bruised neck.

Perhaps noticing for the first time that his hood was down, Lovino reached back and tugged it over his head with shaky hands, “I wasn’t fucking scared, and you can’t tell me what to do!”

Antonio scoffed, “Lovino, you were terrified. I don’t know what happened, but-”

“Exactly!” Lovino suddenly snapped. “You don’t know what happened, and you don’t know me. He took _literally_ everything I own, and I’m gonna get it back.”

“Think about this!” Antonio pleaded, tightening his grip in his frustration, “Whoever that guy is was well off, right?”

“Yeah, that asshole has money. So?” Lovino growled, trying to shrug off the grip on his shoulders with a renewed vigor.

Antonio nodded, “Alright, so stealing money from you wouldn’t make sense — he doesn’t need it.”

“So what?” Lovino snapped, finally fed up with being held in place as he ripped his shoulders free. He didn’t stand, but he did manage to scramble back until he was out of reach.

Antonio let his arms fall limply to his side, “I’m just saying, if he did steal your bag then it was to bait you. He wants you to go back, and I really don’t think you should.”

The first flash of uncertainty went through Lovino’s eyes, but he kept his angry front up, “It doesn’t matter, does it. He still stole _my_ stuff, and I’m going to get it back.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Antonio asked, a glare of his own in place.

“I’ll find him or he’ll find me. It doesn’t matter, either way I’m gonna kill him.” Lovino muttered, finally standing up.

Antonio stood as well, using his body as a barrier so he couldn’t scurry away, “Listen, however much money you had doesn’t matter. I wanted to talk to you today to offer you a job at my store.”

Lovino froze in his tracks, eyes widening in shock, “Wait, you what?’

Antonio would have laughed at the perplexed expression he was making, but he was far too focused on getting through to his obstinate trespasser, “I can’t offer much as far as wages, but if you work a few hours during the day, then you can sleep here during the night.”

“I-I… are you serious?” Lovino squeaked, everything about his posture screaming disbelief.

Antonio nodded, “Yeah, I figured this way you could have somewhere safe to stay, and I won’t have some homeless kid camped out on the side of my building.”

Lovino’s breath caught in his throat, looking around the little flower shop. He seemed to be at a loss, unable or unwilling to believe that someone would offer him such a deal. He deflated, finally turning back to Antonio to say in a shaky voice, “This is too much, bastard. You don’t even know me, why would you offer me something like that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Antonio asked seriously, crossing his arms in a huff. “Look, it’s almost winter and you’re going to freeze if you don’t find somewhere to go. Just come in and clean for a couple hours, and I’ll pay you and let you sleep here.”

“But you still don’t know me.” Lovino pushed, “What if I’m some kind of delinquent who’ll rob you blind the second you let your guard down?”

“You’re a lot of things, but not a thief, remember?” Antonio said, echoing Lovino’s words from just the previous night. “I don’t know you at all, but I don’t think you’re a bad person. And if I can put my trust in some homeless kid that’s loitered outside my store for two weeks, then I think you can have a little faith in me.”

Lovino gaped at him, rendered completely speechless. He rubbed at his eyes, once more sparing a fleeting glance around the little store. Oddly enough, his gaze seemed to linger on those dandelions again, and Antonio briefly wondered what his fixation was with them. Lovino shook his head a few times to come down from the stupor, finally able to mumble a half-hearted, “I’m not homeless, dammit.”

“And you’re not a kid either, yeah I got it.” Antonio huffed, but he couldn’t completely hide his smile.

Lovino groaned loudly in annoyance, but nodded nonetheless. His shoulders fell as he surrendered something in his own mind, very nearly glaring when he said, “Fine, I guess I can work in your shitty little store.”

Antonio nodded sharply, “And you’re not going to go after that guy to get your bag back, right?”

With a drawn-out sigh, Lovino acquiesced, “Alright, I won’t murder the bastard. You happy now?”

“Yup!” Antonio chirped, letting some of his stern demeanor fall. “Now, we’re going to need to get you a shower, and probably some new clothes too.”

Lovino groaned again, clearly dreading it, “Well, I’m now completely broke, so I hope you have a plan.”

Antonio bit at his lower lip, trying to figure out the best way to approach this, “I do, but…”

“It’s something stupid, isn’t it?” Lovino finished for him.

Antonio smiled sheepishly, “I mean, I don’t think it’s stupid, but you’re probably not going to like it.”

“I already regret agreeing to this.” Lovino mumbled, sitting heavily down on the bench behind him. “Alright, what idiotic plan do you have?”

“You’re going to have to trust me.” Antonio said firmly, “I know you probably don’t want to, but we need to stop at my apartment.”

Just as he predicted, Lovino instantly tensed, “I already told you, I’m not-”

“Like I said, you need to trust me here.” Antonio cut in, “You need a shower and a change of clothes, and I can’t provide that unless we stop at my place.”

Lovino started drumming his fingers on his own lap, staring intently at the ground with a conflicted expression. This was clearly a difficult decision for him, but in the end he nodded his assent, “Fine, but if you try _anything,_ I’ll fucking kill you.”

Instead of recoiling at what was meant to be a serious threat, Antonio smiled, “Of course! Now, let’s go.”

“Bastard, I just threatened to murder you. Act a little scared, or something!” Lovino whined, pouting when he was met by laughter.

“I’m sorry, please don’t murder me.” Antonio chuckled, making the swift decision to text Francis to come in and open the store so he could take care of a certain _murderous_ new employee.

“Whatever, let’s just go before I change my mind.” Lovino grumbled, swiftly standing and rushing towards the door.

“Wait, Lovi!” Antonio called, running after him.

“And don’t fucking call me that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha, once again I'm coming at you with a not-short chapter... full disclosure, I'm adding like at least a thousand words to whatever I already had written up just to flesh it out lmao I have no self-control.
> 
> And Lovi gets more and more mysterious... wonder why he insists he's not homeless hmmmm ;)
> 
> On a side note, thanks for reading this silly little thing. This has been helping me break out of some writer's block, so I'm having a blast expanding on this concept I had. Anywho, would like to reiterate that this is probably going to get graphic in the future, but I'll be sure to put a warning at the beginning whenever that starts :)
> 
> Okie I'm out!


	9. Chapter 9

“You’re so fucking stupid.”

“Lovi, let me see!”

“No! And I told you not to call me that, idiot.”

“Aww, please?”

“No!”

Antonio had to muffle his laughter with one of his hands or else he feared Lovino would start yelling at him again. He was standing outside the bathroom door, already grinning widely in anticipation, “You have to come out eventually, you know.”

There was a loud groan on the other side of the door, “I bet I could last a week in here _at least.”_

“What are you so afraid of?” Antonio goaded, figuring he could irritate Lovino enough to open the door. 

“Nothing, I just don’t want to come out!” was the muffled retort.

Antonio smirked, “Are you seriously throwing a temper tantrum? _Dios,_ you really are a kid.”

A dull bang against the door indicated that Lovino had probably just bashed his head against it in annoyance, his voice growing increasingly heated, “Knock it off, bastard!”

“Or what?” Antonio prodded, “You won’t open the door, so there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Son of a-” the door was thrown wide open, Lovino standing in the doorway wearing a fierce glare, but that wasn’t the most striking part of his appearance. 

The first thing Antonio noticed was his skin was at least a shade lighter now that he wasn’t covered in dirt and grime, revealing more of his olive skin tone — he even had a few freckles that sat high on his cheekbones. Of course the unintended consequence was that the bruise around his eye was much more prominent, but that observation was blown aside by his hair — no longer a tangled, matted mess, but glossy and clean, a singular curl standing stubbornly up despite the water. He was looking down to the ground, clearly embarrassed, but he already looked much healthier now that he was clean.

“So cute!” Antonio gushed, only partly teasing.

“I hate you.” Lovino growled. He crossed his arms over his chest, although his hands were nowhere to be seen. No, they were instead covered by the overlong red sleeves of a cozy knitted sweater. Lovino’s face heated up to nearly the same shade as his top, the way it swallowed up his frame making him seem even shorter than he already was. It also had a high collar, which effectively obscured most of the horrid bruising on his neck from view — that was one of the main reasons Antonio chose this particular garment of clothing, but he wasn’t about to tell him that.

“That’s such a lovely color on you, I think I did well.” Antonio said with a satisfied nod.

Lovino scoffed, “This was seriously your plan? Just throw me in some oversized jumper?”

“Hey, I tried to make it smaller!” Antonio protested.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Lovino asked, violently shaking his overlong sleeves to try and free his hands.

Antonio had to look away for just a moment or else he’d start laughing again, and he really didn’t want to see if Lovino would carry out his murderous threat. He took in a deep breath, turning back with a carefully neutral expression, “I threw it in the dryer to shrink it, and I think it worked a little.”

_“Dio santo,_ you’re a fucking idiot.” Lovino whined, pinching the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger.

“Hey, is that Italian?” Antonio asked curiously.

Lovino huffed a short bark of laughter, “Wow, you figured it out. Do you want a gold star or something?”

Antonio rolled his eyes and gestured towards the kitchen, “Whatever, how about we grab something to eat and then we can head back to the store.”

“Fine by me.” Lovino said dismissively, waiting until Antonio had started walking before following at an arm’s length. 

They emerged into the small kitchen, Antonio immediately shoving his head into the fridge to assess their options. He pursed his lips in thought, eventually deciding that throwing together a couple of sandwiches would be the quickest and easiest. He peeked over the door, finding Lovino standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen as he asked, “I have ham and turkey, what do you prefer?”

He shrugged, “Food is food, I don’t give a shit.”

Nodding to himself, Antonio reached in and grabbed the first one that met his hand. Humming lightly to himself, he stood and threw the package of processed meat on the counter. He reached into the fridge for a few more ingredients before pointing at a chair, “You can sit, you know.”

Lovino bit nervously at his bottom lip, but eventually acquiesced. He sat gingerly down at the small table at the edge of the kitchen, eyes running along the cream walls and dark hardwood flooring. 

Antonio continued to hum to himself as he prepared their meal, noting with just a bit of curiosity that there were no sarcastic remarks made the entire time. He glanced over to find Lovino trying to look around as discreetly as he could, but he couldn’t quite mask the spark of interest in his eyes. Antonio continued to watch him, smiling lightly at the large sweater — that deep crimson really was such a good color on him, working well with his warm skin tone and striking hazel eyes. He looked completely different from the scruffy vagrant from mere hours ago, and for a moment he looked like a normal young adult and nothing more.

The image might have lasted, but Lovino had quite the mouth on him, “Oi, stop fucking staring, you creep.”

Antonio jumped, nearly dropping the knife he’d been holding in his shock. He laughed sheepishly, knowing he was caught, “Sorry, I was just thinking that you clean up nicely.”

Lovino’s cheeks heated up again until he was just as red as the sweater he wore, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s true!” Antonio laughed, pointing when his face continued to heat up, “Oh my gosh, you look like a tomato!”

“Shut up!” Lovino shouted. Had he been wearing a hood, then he probably would have hidden away behind it, but as it was he could do little more than turn away in embarrassment.

Antonio shook his head in amusement, finally succeeding in making two sandwiches. He put them each on a plate, placing one in front of a still very red Lovino and the other across the table where he would sit. He ran back to one of his cabinets, grabbing two bags of potato chips before returning.

Lovino accepted the bag of chips when it was offered to him, opening it with very little fuss. He seemed to be more comfortable eating something that he watched Antonio prepare, and he was soon digging in with all the gusto of a starving, homeless twenty-year-old.

With a small smile, Antonio also began munching idly at his own crisps. Francis had confirmed that he was available to open, so there was really no rush to get there. He chose not to tell Lovino that Francis would be there when they arrived — it was probably best to cross that bridge when they got there.

Across the table, Lovino continued to devour his food, not even bothering to glance up or spare any words as he ate. While the silence wasn’t necessarily awkward, Antonio felt the need to break it anyway, “So where are you from?”

Lovino paused in his rapid actions, peering up with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. He took a moment to swallow his food, addressing the question shortly, “Not here.”

Antonio snorted in amusement, finding the answer entirely unhelpful, “I’m guessing you’re not going to explain that, right?”

“Nope.” Lovino mumbled, popping another crisp into his mouth.

Antonio sighed, although he was unsurprised, “Okay, what about any family?”

“I got ‘em.” Lovino answered with a shrug.

“But you don’t live with them.” Antonio said slowly.

“Not anymore.”

“Why?”

“Does it-”

“Yes it matters.” 

Lovino glared, most likely irritated that he’d been interrupted, “That’s not your business, fuck off.”

Antonio groaned loudly in annoyance, but let it go. Instead, he asked something that had confused him since the very beginning, “Why do you keep saying you’re not homeless? I mean, you told me last night that you’ve been on the streets for a long time.”

“That’s not your business either, now is it?” Lovino muttered patronizingly, like he was speaking to a child. 

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any answers, Antonio gave up. Maybe one day he’d get some of the information he itched to know, but now was clearly not the time. Still, he wasn’t completely finished in his questioning, “Fine, so what’s your favorite flower?”

Lovino raised one of his eyebrows at the question, clearly not expecting it. He twisted his lips to the side, apparently in thought before he said, “That’s a weird fucking question.”

Antonio laughed brightly at the characteristic response, “That’s not an answer.”

“Well, I don’t know!” Lovino said, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “That’s not something I just sit around and think about.”

“What about dandelions?” Antonio asked lightly, but he was eager to hear the response.

Lovino shrugged, but the way his cheeks were dusted a light red betrayed him, “They’re just weeds, aren’t they?”

“Depends on who you ask.” Antonio said with a teasing smile. “And don’t think I forgot about the dandelion you left in my jacket, I know you did that on purpose!”

The dusting of red exploded until his entire face was engulfed in a deep blush. He covered his eyes with one of his hands, trying to obscure his face from view as he mumbled, “Don’t read into that, bastard. I-I just saw it on the way, and… I don’t know. You were holding one when you first yelled at me, and me and my brother would always-” he cut himself off by biting his lip.

Antonio twisted his head to the side at the last part, “You have a brother?”

Lovino ran a hand down the length of his face, glaring when he finally opened his eyes, “I _had_ a brother. I don’t know if he still sees me as one.”

“You had a fight?” Antonio prodded.

Lovino sighed, “You could call it that.”

Antonio leaned forward in his seat, excited at the prospect of finally getting some answers, “What about?”

But it seemed that Lovino was finished with that line of dialogue, his shoulders scrunching up defensively as he fell back on that old phrase, “Does it matter?”

Antonio deflated at the words, knowing that the conversation was over. He would have launched into a new series of questions, but Lovino put a halt to it before it could begin by shoveling a handful of chips in his mouth.

The meal was finished in silence, neither party daring to break the tense peace that held them hostage. Briefly Antonio wondered if he pushed too hard, but Lovino wasn’t hurling profanities at him, so he figured it was alright. Once they both finished, he collected their dishes and threw them in the sink to wash later. The time read close to ten in the morning, and Antonio knew they couldn’t linger much longer.

“Okay, are you ready to go?” Antonio asked as he shoved a few things into his bag.

Lovino shrugged, standing from his chair, “I guess.”

“Cool, let’s go then.” Antonio gestured towards the door, once again having to lead the way when Lovino wouldn’t budge. It seemed that he preferred to follow at a distance, probably to give him the opportunity to bolt if he felt he was in danger. It was a bit of a quirk, but not an unreasonable one.

They made their way onto the street, falling more in step the further they walked down the pavement. The sun was a bit warmer now that it wasn’t so early, and Antonio chanced a look over to Lovino, noting with some amusement that he had turned his face upwards to soak in the warmth. His eyes were almost closed, for once not shivering despite the rather cool air. His posture was the most relaxed Antonio had ever seen it, hands shoved deep into the front pockets of his freshly-cleaned trousers.

Antonio himself was feeling fairly content, enjoying the rare moment of peace. He still had questions he wanted to ask Lovino, and he supposed now was as good a time as any. Still, it took a few attempts to just come out and ask what he really wanted to know. In the end, he just blurted it out before he lost the nerve, “What happened to your neck?”

Lovino nearly tripped over his own feet at the suddenness of the question, but he caught himself before he could become an undignified heap on the ground. He glared to his side, crossing his arms defensively across his chest when he answered, “You’re asking a lot of questions today.”

“And you won’t answer any of them.” Antonio pouted.

Lovino shook his head with a scoff, “You don’t know me, we’re not friends. Why do you want to know so much about me?”

Antonio threw his hands up in exasperation, “You work for me now, is it really so weird that I want to know your story?”

“I don’t have a story, I’m just some _kid_ that you took pity on and there’s nothing else.” Lovino grumbled, refusing to make eye contact.

“Everyone has a story, and I want to know yours.” Antonio whined, hoping to get a reaction. “I know you have a brother, you like dandelions, your face and neck are bruised, and red is a good color on you. Besides that, you’re a complete mystery.”

“Well you better get used to it, bastard.” Lovino huffed, clearly not in a sharing mood.

“At least tell me why your eye is bruised.” Antonio begged, hoping for just a bit of information he could work with.

Lovino looked at him from the corner of his eye, debating whether or not to reveal the origins of that injury. He eventually sighed loudly in annoyance, “You won’t shut up until I tell you something, won’t you?”

“Nope!” Antonio chirped.

“Fine.” Lovino grit out shortly, turning to finally make full eye contact. “I got into a fight with some asshole because they thought they could put their hands where they don’t belong. People think because I’m small they can just get away with that shit, but I won’t let them.”

He looked rather satisfied with himself at the last line, but Antonio could feel just a bit of worry at the insinuation, “Is that a normal thing for you?”

“Like I said, there’s a lot of fucking creeps out there, I’ve gotten pretty good at avoiding them.” Lovino said with a sharp nod.

Antonio turned his head curiously to the side, “How exactly did you make your money?”

Lovino’s gaze suddenly darkened, and he was right back to his normal defensive self, “If you’re implying I’m some kind of prostitute, then we’re going to have a serious problem.”

“Well…” Antonio bit nervously at his lip, wondering if he was going to get hit for this. “I mean, are you?”

Instead of hitting him like Antonio feared, Lovino instead crossed his arms angrily over his chest. He glared at the pavement, not looking up when he said, “I don’t let anybody touch me, _ever._ I hate when people make insinuations about me, like I’m some kind of cheap whore they can just use. I have rules, and I hold to them, but not everybody likes to listen so I get into fights.”

So in short, the answer was _yes._ The answer was seemingly disconnected and rather vague, but it did clear up a few things regarding Lovino’s combative behavior. Antonio didn’t know exactly how to feel about it, but he supposed it really wasn’t his business. He didn’t know anything about Lovino or what circumstances led him to that kind of life, and the comments about having rules sparked more questions than it really answered. Still, his question was answered honestly, so he wasn’t going to push anymore.

Antonio looked over to see Lovino sneaking glances over to him, probably awaiting some sort of reaction, so he took in a deep breath and said, “Okay, thank you for sharing with me.”

Lovino’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Wait, what?”

With a shrug, Antonio said, “I asked a question and you answered it honestly. I appreciate that, so thank you.”

“So… you don’t care?” Lovino asked slowly.

“It’s your life, and I don’t have a right to judge.” Antonio said sincerely, truly meaning it. “I just wish you didn’t have to live that way or get into fights.”

Lovino’s shoulders relaxed, his defensive attitude dissipating a bit at the words, “Yeah, well, hopefully I won’t have to anymore.”

Antonio smiled brightly at that, hearing the subtext behind it. They might not have gotten off on the right foot, but he was quickly finding that Lovino wasn’t nearly as feral as he tried to make himself out to be. Antonio actually got the impression that he was rather clever, although his temper probably buried that trait. Either way, he was eager to leave their rocky start behind them and with any luck he could help Lovino make a decent life for himself.

Nodding to himself with a newfound sense of resolve, Antonio led them the rest of the way to his store. He opened the door, completely forgetting about the only other employee he had…

_“Bonjour!”_

Lovino froze in the doorway, eyes narrowing, _“You.”_

“Ah, is that who I think it is?” Francis chirped, leaning fully against the counter he stood behind. “My dear, you’ve grown even more beautiful since I last laid eyes on you.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Lovino growled under his breath.

Antonio sighed, directing a half-hearted glare towards his provocative friend, “Francis, this is Lovino, he’s going to start working here.”

“Really?” Francis said, eyes alight with mischief already.

“Yeah, and I would very much appreciate you remembering your manners.” Antonio said pointedly, feeling more than seeing the way Lovino shifted nervously to his side.

“But of course.” Francis said solemnly, turning to address Lovino, “Welcome to the team, I’m very excited to get to know you.”

“I bet you are, fuckface.” Lovino mumbled.

Antonio sighed loudly, wondering what he got himself into. He’d have to be sure to write the schedules in a way to keep these two separated the best he could, although some overlap would be inevitable. Hopefully they would learn to tolerate each other, although the heat of Lovino’s glare was not promising. 

“Wow, look how scary that face is!” Francis prodded, clearly pleased with himself. “Let’s see a little smile, love.”

Lovino went an interesting shade of scarlet, “I’m this fucking close to punching your ugly mug, then we’ll see who's smiling.”

“Why so hostile? C’mon, I’m sure we can get along.” Francis said, and it would have sounded sincere had he not been smirking. “After all, such a pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be using such foul language.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Lovino reiterated.

Antonio rubbed at his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. It was going to be a long shift.

“Come now, just a little smile for big brother?”

“I’ll knock your fucking teeth out if you don’t shut up!”

“Ah, I do love the feisty ones.”

“Alright, that’s it!”

Yeah, it was definitely going to be a long, _long_ shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And ANOTHER long ass chapter omfg why am I like this? At the very least, I hope you liked it! Once again, I have to say that I love Francis, but damn that boy needs to freaking chill sometimes XD
> 
> Let me know what you think! This has been pretty fun to go through and expand on, so I'm hoping you're enjoying it as much as I am.
> 
> That's all I got, peace out!


	10. Chapter 10

Remarkably, Lovino didn’t tear Francis’ head off by the end of the day, nor the next two for that matter. Business was beginning to slow down lately as the cold weather rolled in, but it was bound to pick up again during the holiday season. That being said, Antonio realized with some dismay that he would need both Francis and Lovino to help him set up for the coming influx of customers he was sure to get in a couple weeks or so. The result was that the two saw each other more often, which meant he had to deal with the characteristic shouting matches (well, Lovino would shout), but at the very least nobody was dead.

“Oi, I’ll gouge your fucking eyes out if you keep looking at me like that!”

“Whatever do you mean, my dear?”

“Like you’re undressing me with your eyes, you creep. I’m getting fucking chills!”

“Ah, so it excites you, yes?”

“Why you-”

Well, nobody was dead _yet._

Antonio breathed a heavy sigh, walking around the counter to approach Francis. Once there, he tugged his friend lightly back by the collar just to get him to stop leering at the little Italian. Antonio had been watching, and it was clear that the blond was trying to get a reaction with his obnoxious staring — unfortunately Lovino delivered every single time.

Francis made a disgruntled sound at the back of his throat when he was pulled back “Oh come on, he started it!”

Lovino stood at the other side of the store, one hand on his hip and the other gripping a broom, “I was just minding my own fucking business, then you had to start staring at me.”

“I agree with Lovino, you were trying to get a reaction.” Antonio said as he finally released the grip on his friend’s collar.

Francis rubbed absently at his neck, but he was glaring now, “No fair, you always take his side.”

Antonio snorted in equal parts amusement and annoyance, “Just leave him alone, I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”

“Yeah, you tasteless creep.” Lovino jumped in, sticking his tongue out childishly.

_“Tasteless?!”_

“Lovino, was that really necessary?” Antonio sighed, rubbing at his temples.

“Hell yes it was necessary!”

“Excuse me, are we going to ignore what he just said about me?” 

Lovino smirked, “What, the fact that you have no taste, or that your nose is crooked?”

Francis clapped a hand over his nose, “Toni, did you hear him?”

“Alright, enough you two!” Antonio said loudly, just shy of shouting. He glared at both of them, arms crossed over his chest, “Stop acting like children, I’m your boss not your parent.”

“Well, he started-”

“I don’t care who started it, Francis.” Antonio cut him sharply off, sending a pointed glare to Lovino when he caught him sticking his tongue out again. “You guys better not act like this when we have customers in here, understand?”

“But of course.”

“Fucking whatever.”

Antonio nodded, sending one last lingering glare towards both of them before retreating back behind the counter. He kept an eye on Francis, who was watering some of the potted plants, but it seemed his friend had heeded his words and stopped ogling their newest employee. Lovino had begrudgingly returned to his sweeping, having to shove the sleeves of his sweater (this one was beige in color) up so it wouldn’t swallow his hands.

With a sigh, Antonio took a step back and sat heavily on the bench — _Lovino’s_ bench. The young Italian had only been sleeping there for a couple nights, but the area behind the counter was quickly becoming his, a blanket folded neatly at the edge of the bench and a small throw pillow sitting atop it. Antonio brought him a change of clothes every day, always choosing a sweater or something of the sort. Not only did those sweaters keep him warm, but they also covered up some of the harsh bruising on his neck from view. Besides that, Antonio thought that he looked adorable in those oversized jumpers — not that he’d ever say that to Lovino’s face (he’d probably get murdered).

Despite his fiery nature and defensive attitude, Lovino was beginning to find his place in the little store. He was careful to keep the area behind the counter neat, and even if he exchanged biting words with Francis, he made sure to watch his language when customers were in the store. He was a natural flirt when it came to women (they seemed to love when he spoke Italian) and he was definitely responsible for more than one sale. Truly he was falling in place here, and all would be well if it weren’t for one thing:

Lovino was terrible at his job.

It was like he never had to clean anything before, and he had an unfortunate habit of bumping into shelves and vases, usually to their ultimate destruction. He was skillful when it came to selling bouquets and charming women (and one man, actually), but he was absolutely useless at the job he was hired to do. The most perplexing thing was that he was genuinely putting an effort in, but invariably by the end of the day something would lay shattered on the ground.

At the thought there was a loud _crash_ followed by a muttered, “Fuck.”

Antonio only barely contained a heavy sigh, hauling himself up to see what was broken this time. He made sure to shoot Francis a stern look as he passed him (the man was trying to muffle his laughter), eventually finding Lovino picking something off the ground near the front door. Shaking his head lightly in amazement, Antonio bent down and helped him pick up the shattered remains of a ceramic pot, “How did you knock this one over?”

Lovino blushed, shaking his head as he continued picking up the sharp ceramic, “I was just thinking, it’s not important.”

Antonio chuckled, “You must’ve been thinking pretty hard about something to bump into the shelf like that.”

The blush on his face deepened, and Lovino was suddenly doubling his efforts to pick up the shattered pot as quickly as possible, “Like I said, it’s not important.”

“Aww, but Lovi!” Antonio whined, smirking as he awaited a reaction.

“I told you, don’t call me — _ah!”_ Lovino suddenly recoiled, gripping one of his hands close to his chest.

Antonio immediately set down the pieces he’d already managed to pick up, “What happened? Are you okay?”

Lovino slowly pulled his hand away from his chest, releasing the harsh grip he had over his hand. His palm had a rather nasty gash in it, blood already pooling in his hand. He hissed in pain, taking great care not to bleed all over his clothes or the floor, “Goddammit, now you made me cut myself too!”

“What do you mean?” Antonio asked distractedly, already fussing over the new injury.

Lovino averted his eyes, “Nothing. Do you have any bandages in here or something?”

Antonio nodded as he gestured in the general direction of the front counter, “Yeah, I keep some in the restroom in the back, do you need help?”

Lovino edged away when the Spaniard tried to get a closer look, “No, I can take care of it.”

“Are you sure?” Antonio pushed, noticing with some trepidation that some of the blood was dangerously close to spilling over.

Lovino nodded as he swiftly stood, already rushing to the door behind the counter where the bathroom lay beyond, “I’ll be fine, bastard. If you really want to help me then take care of this mess.”

Antonio sighed, knowing it was completely pointless to argue, “Alright, make sure you wash the cut or else it’ll get infected.”

“I know, I’m not stupid.” Lovino mumbled, disappearing into the back. 

Now left with the shattered remains of the broken pot, Antonio began to carefully pick them up. It seemed that Lovino’s clumsiness knew no bounds, but he’d never cut himself on something before. Antonio pursed his lips in thought, wondering what got him so distracted that he bumped into a shelf that was well out of the way of the main aisle. 

He heard Francis trying to muffle his laughter again, and Antonio whipped his head up to glare, “What’s so funny?”

The blond smirked, not even looking up as he said, “I made a miscalculation.”

“What?” Antonio asked in confusion.

Francis gestured vaguely with his hand, “I think I gave Lovino too much credit, he’s just as oblivious as you.”

Antonio opened his mouth to respond to the vague claim, but his attention was ripped away when the front door whipped open, very nearly bashing him in the head. A flash of white and red waltzed into the building, a loud voice calling, _“Hallo!_ The awesome me is here to… Toni? What are you doing on the ground, dude?”

When it registered who had arrived , Antonio smiled and addressed the louder of his two friends, “I just dropped something, give me a sec.” He picked up the rest of the shards, quickly standing before returning to his spot behind the front counter where he threw them away. He turned around to see that Gilbert had followed him to the counter, looking at the blanket on the end of the bench curiously.

It looked like he was going to comment on it, but suddenly a provocative blond was throwing an arm around his shoulder, “Are you here to collect me for that date you promised?”

Gilbert shrugged Francis off of him, brow furrowed in confusion, “I never promised you a date.”

“Ah, but you did!” Francis laughed, “I recall the night I escorted you home, you said that you’d take me out.”

Eyes lighting up in remembrance, Gilbert groaned, “Yeah, I said I’d take you out — that means I was going to punch you, dude.”

Before that could turn into a full-blown argument, Antonio cut in, “What’s that you have in your hand?”

“Hmm?” Gilbert looked down to the bag he was carrying, looking back up with an apologetic smile, “Oh, I’m flying home. I actually have to go in like a few minutes, so I wanted to say goodbye to you guys first!”

“I thought you were staying until next week.” Francis pouted.

“Well, apparently things have gone to hell at work.” Gilbert laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “But to make it up to you guys, I’m coming back next month for two whole weeks!”

Even if he was disappointed that the albino had to leave so soon, Antonio smiled, “I’ll look forward to it.”

“As will I.” Francis said sincerely, for once not picking a fight.

The sudden sound of a car horn outside made all three of them jump. Gilbert glanced over his shoulder with a light glare, “Ah shit, there’s my ride. I’m really sorry guys, I wish I could stay.”

“We understand, just make sure to keep in touch with us.” Antonio said with a small smile.

Francis nodded his agreement, “And I want all the juicy details on your brother’s boyfriend when you get back — you know, the one you’ve fallen _madly_ in love with.”

Gilbert blushed at the little jab — it was something that Francis kept bringing up just to embarrass him. However, instead of glaring like he normally would, he smiled, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you! So Ludwig’s coming next month with me.”

“Is that so?” Francis asked, a knowing smirk already on his face.

Gilbert nodded enthusiastically, his voice growing louder with every word in his excitement, “Yeah, he hasn’t gone on a vacation in _forever,_ so I convinced him to take some time off his studies. Oh, and he’s bringing Feliciano too!”

There was a muffled crash that came from the back, like somebody had fallen over. All three heads whipped around at the noise, each wearing varying expressions of confusion.

“Um, what was that?” Gilbert asked

Francis bit back a snort of laughter, clearly amused by the whole ordeal.

Antonio sighed, glancing over his shoulder in mild concern, “Don’t worry about it, you should get going.”

Gilbert nodded, cringing when somebody hit the horn again, “Sorry guys, I really hate leaving so early.”

“It’s alright, we’ll have to make up for it when you come back.” Antonio said lightly, sidestepping the counter to give his friend a hug.

Gilbert breathed a sigh of relief, returning the hug with a small smile of his own, “Don’t miss me too much now.”

Francis stepped forward next, holding his arms out wide, “I will look forward to our date.”

“I never promised you a date.” Gilbert grumbled, but returned the blond’s hug nonetheless. Another beep of the horn had him backing away with a glare, “Yeah, yeah, I hear you.”

Antonio sighed, but he was still smiling when he said, “We’ll see you in a few weeks, have a good flight.”

Gilbert was already retreating towards the door, one hand up as he waved goodbye, “Thanks, I’ll see you guys later!”

“So long, safe travels!” Francis called with a wave. The door fell closed shortly thereafter, the only sound in the small store being a wistful sigh, “He never does stay for long.”

Antonio shook his head, “But at least he makes an effort to visit.”

Francis nodded, sneaking a glance towards the back before pointing at the door, “Um, do you think Lovino is okay?”

“Oh, shit!” Antonio yelled, completely forgetting about the loud crash from earlier. He turned sharply on his heel and sped into the backroom where stacks of boxes of extra inventory were piled high. To his immediate right was an employee bathroom, and without a second thought, Antonio stepped up to it and knocked, “Are you okay in there?”

There was some muffled cursing on the other side of the door, a sharp voice cutting through, “I’m fine, bastard.”

“I heard a loud noise, like you fell!” Antonio fretted, trying the doorknob only to find it (unsurprisingly) locked.

Lovino groaned in some unknown emotion, his voice shaky when he answered, “You have loud fucking friends.”

“Sorry, that was just Gilbert.” Antonio said, biting at his lip as he contemplated what to do next. However, he was saved the effort when the door was suddenly blown wide open.

Lovino stood in the doorway, hand freshly wrapped in some gauze he must have found. He was fidgeting awkwardly with his hands, his eyes looking just a little frantic with how wide they were blown open. Something was decidedly off about the way he stood, not forward and aggressive, but subdued and rather meek. It was like all of his characteristic attitude had drained out of his posture, although his words were still biting, “Are you going to keep standing there like a dumbass, or can I get back to work?”

Even his voice seemed off, and Antonio couldn’t contain his worry, “Lovi, are you sure you’re okay?”

He held up his newly wrapped hand, “As you can see, I am no longer bleeding everywhere.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Antonio sighed, wanting with everything in him to reach a hand out and lay it on his shoulder. The only reason he didn’t was because Lovino had told him rather explicitly that he didn’t like to be touched, and the only reason that Antonio had gotten away with it before was because of the circumstances surrounding the action. So instead he took a step back, allowing Lovino to step out of the doorway with the soft words of, “I know you don’t like me, but you can talk to me if something’s wrong.”

Lovino had only taken one step when those soft words registered, and in the next moment he had halted completely in his actions. He eyed Antonio carefully, crossing his arms firmly over his chest with a scowl, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Oh, I was just saying-”

“Yes, I heard what you said, that’s the problem.” Lovino huffed impatiently, glare still as scorching as ever.

Antonio was confused, and especially with the way that Lovino didn’t seem angry at him but exasperated. Suddenly he felt like he said something wrong, “Sorry, did I make you mad?”

Lovino groaned loudly in annoyance, shocking Antonio by taking a step forward to stand directly in his personal space, “Fucking idiot, I don’t… I don’t dislike you.”

“Really?” Antonio asked hopefully, nearly laughing when Lovino’s cheeks exploded in a deep blush.

“Trust me, I’ve tried to hate you.” Lovino mumbled, poking harshly at his chest. “You’re an oblivious idiot, do you really think I’d break one of my rules for someone I disliked?”

“One of your rules?” Antonio prompted curiously. Vaguely he thought he remembered Lovino mentioning something about that, but it hadn’t ever come up again.

Lovino rubbed at his eyes, like he was trying to dispel a sudden headache, “I don’t go back to people’s apartments, or houses, or _whatever._ It’s dangerous, but I broke my own damn rule because of you.”

The way he phrased it made it sound like he blamed Antonio, but that didn’t matter much because Lovino openly stated that he didn’t hate him. For some reason the admission made Antonio feel warm all over, and before he knew it he was smiling, “Thank you for trusting me so much, I’m really happy that you like me.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, I still think you’re a fucking idiot.” Lovino grumbled, finally taking a step back with a moody purse of the lips.

Antonio’s smile only broadened, “It’s okay, I know the truth, Lovi!”

“God, you’re insufferable.” Lovino growled under his breath, sidestepping the Spaniard and gesturing towards the door.

Just like all the other jabs, this one went in through one ear and out the other. Antonio turned on his heel and led them both out of the room, too excited to remember his earlier worry. He emerged into the store proper, watching as Lovino immediately returned to his sweeping. Absently Antonio wondered what he’d break next, or why his cheeks were still aflame, but mostly he wondered how long he could get away with this:

“Hey, Lovi?”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

Lovino glared as he put his head back down, returning to his sweeping with a grumbled, “Why do I fucking bother?”

Antonio nodded to himself, pleased with his findings. He’d have to conduct more experiments to confirm that it wasn’t just a lapse in judgement, but for now it seemed like they’ve made some kind of breakthrough in their relationship. 

“Lovi?”

“Fucking _what?!”_

“I was just thinking you have a nice name.”

“Oh my God, shut up!”

Antonio smirked privately to himself, nodding once when Francis gave him a pointed look. He wondered if Lovino knew what was going on, or if he was oblivious to it. It was most likely that he didn’t know, otherwise Antonio had no doubt he’d throw a fit when he realized he’d ceased being _Lovino_ and was now effectively _Lovi_ to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy how's it goin y'all? Here's a nice long chapter, full of sass and all that jazz.
> 
> Hope you liked it, lemme know what you think!
> 
> Also, I won't be able to post anything in the next couple of weeks :((( my job has me traveling a lot, and unfortunately that means that I don't have access to the Internet or anything. I'm sorry, but I will be back and I'll start posting regularly again in just a little while so don't forget me, okay? 
> 
> Thanks, love y'all :)


	11. Chapter 11

Antonio’s been playing a game lately — one that may actually get him injured, but it was too much fun to stop. He was actually playing right now, smirking as he launched into another round of what he liked to call: _how much can I get away with before Lovino punches me?_

“Hey, Lovi?” Antonio chirped from his place behind the counter.

Lovino looked up with a light glare, swimming in one of Antonio’s old black hoodies (he’d run out of sweaters), “What do you want, dipshit?”

Antonio’s smirk broadened, “Oh, I was just thinking that you’re really cute when you blush.”

Just as expected, his cheeks were immediately painted a deep scarlet, “Oi, shut the hell up!”

“Aww, but Lovi you’re so adorable!” Antonio laughed, paying no mind to the darkening glare. “And so sweet, just look at that smile!”

Lovino’s blush only deepened, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, “You don’t want this, bastard.”

“Oh my gosh!” Antonio giggled, unable to contain his mirth as he continued to prod, “Lovi, you look like a tomato!”

Lovino massaged his temples like he was trying to expel a sudden headache, “I’ll fucking punch your lights out if you don’t shut it.”

And here was the fun part of the game, “Can you even reach that high?”

“What?” Lovino hissed.

Antonio shrugged flippantly, “I mean, you’re just so short. Can you really blame me for mistaking you for a kid?” 

Lovino stalked closer, his glare becoming fiercer by the second. Picking on his height was a pretty sure-fire way to get him riled up, a fact that Antonio took full advantage of. Lovino stomped towards the counter, “Are you seriously trying to pick a fight with me?”

Well, technically he kind of was, but Antonio wasn’t about to admit that, “I would never hurt someone so little, _chiquito”_

“Alright, you can go fuck yourself!” Lovino yelled, sidestepping the counter to land a (surprisingly) solid punch to Antonio’s shoulder.

Antonio laughed brightly in delight, dodging another assault by running through his store and ducking behind a shelf. Lovino pursued him, grumbling profanities the entire way. So far, it was nicknames that really sent him over the edge, another thing Antonio was sure to use to the greatest extent possible, “You know I’m right, Lovi! Come on, don’t be that way, _mi pequeño tomate.”_

“You don’t own me, stop saying that shit!” Lovino shouted, continuing in his attempts to catch the giggly Spaniard.

Once again, Antonio had to escape the clutches of a fuming Lovino, ducking behind yet another shelf. Francis just so happened to be standing there, creating an effective barrier for Antonio to hide behind, “Francis, please help me!”

The blond rolled his eyes, but offered himself up as a shield nonetheless, “You really are oblivious, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Antonio asked distractedly.

“Well-”

“There you are, you piece of shit!” Lovino growled, sharply turning the corner.

Antonio squeaked in surprise, but didn’t run. Instead he hid behind Francis with the muffled cry of, “I overdid it this time, please save me!”

Francis rolled his eyes again, addressing Lovino more than anything when he said, “If you two are finished flirting, I would really like to get back to work.”

Lovino started sputtering, some of his anger lost to indignation, “Wait, we’re not-”

 _“Pssh,_ you’re not working!” Antonio scoffed. “You’ve been texting this entire time, don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“It’s more productive than whatever you two are doing.”

“I’m the boss, I can do what I want.”

“And as the boss, you should be setting a good example.”

Antonio shook his head in disbelief, “Are you seriously lecturing me on being a good example? You practically flirt with anything with a pulse!”

“Well at least I don’t flirt with my employees.”

“What the hell-” Lovino tried again, but was cut off.

“What are you talking about?” Antonio asked incredulously. “You flirt with both Lovino and I every day!”

Francis shrugged with a mischievous smirk, “I think you’re mistaking my kind and genuine words for flirting, _mon beau.”_

“There you go again!”

“Alright, both of you idiots need to shut the hell up!” Lovino growled, effectively putting an end to the pointless bickering. He glared between the two of them, crossing his arms harshly across his chest.

The smirk Francis wore suddenly broadened, and Antonio had a bad feeling about the way the blond suddenly winked, “Why don’t you make me, darling?”

Lovino’s face went red, whether from anger or embarrassment was unknown. His expression twisted even further in displeasure, his posture going rigid when he growled, “You don’t get to fucking talk to me that way.”

“Such language.” Francis purred, sneaking a glance at Antonio as he continued to push, “Hmm, I wonder how we could clean out that filthy mouth of yours.”

Instead of responding verbally, Lovino glared. He took a nervous step back, although he looked irritated at himself for retreating. 

A feeling of protectiveness flared up in Antonio’s chest when he observed the hesitant retreat. Lovino, despite his vulgar manner of speaking, did not take well to any sort of sexual innuendo made at his expense. It was a line that Antonio was sure not to cross — but apparently his obnoxious friend didn’t share the same reservations, “We’ve talked about this Francis, step off!” 

“But of course.” Francis sighed, immediately backing off.

But it seemed that Antonio’s help wasn’t appreciated, because Lovino was suddenly glaring at him. He stamped a foot angrily on the ground, hissing under his breath, “I don’t need your stupid ass defending me, I can handle myself.”

Antonio recoiled, wondering when exactly this situation spiralled so far out of his control. He smiled sheepishly, trying to smooth things over, “Sorry, Lovi. I was just messing with you.”

Lovino narrowed his eyes at that, “You’re so fucking annoying.”

“Sorry.”

“No you’re not.” Lovino huffed, turning sharply on his heel to storm away. There was a muffled curse and the sound of a broom scraping harshly across the floor indicating that he’d gone back to his cleaning.

Antonio stood shocked in the middle of the aisle, eyes blown wide as he tried to figure out where he went wrong. He turned to his friend, hoping he could provide some insight, “Did I say something?”

“Are you serious right now?” Francis asked in exasperation, taking a step forward to sneak a glance at the fuming Italian.

“What?” Antonio asked distractedly.

The blond rolled his eyes _again,_ apparently fed up with something, _“You’re really cute when you blush_ — are you kidding me? And then you turn around and just say you were messing with him?”

“Well, he is cute when he blushes. I’m just seeing how much I can get away with.” Antonio pouted.

Francis sighed loudly, “I really can’t tell if you’re playing dumb or not.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Antonio mumbled, sneaking a glance around the corner to where Lovino was still grumbling to himself. 

“Well if you want my advice-”

“I really don’t.”

“-then make sure you don’t accidentally push too far.” Francis finished firmly, sounding uncharacteristically sincere. “Whatever game you’re playing may not be a game to him. Just be careful.”

Antonio was left to contemplate those words alone when his friend sauntered away. Once again he felt like he’d done something wrong, although he couldn’t begin to fathom exactly what. He pursed his lips in thought, sneaking another glance towards Lovino and the vice-like grip he had on the broom. The Italian looked lost in thought, his sharp movements betraying his irritation with… _something._ Maybe it was best to stop picking fights, and with a sharp nod Antonio resolved himself to apologize later on when some of the tension left the room.

Unfortunately the opportunity didn't present itself until hours later, when Francis was long gone and the last customer had finally cleared out. It’d been a surprisingly busy day, a fact that Antonio really couldn’t complain much about. He flipped the sign in the window so it read ‘closed,’ sighing heavily in relief when he finally had time to breathe.

“Don’t work too hard, you might hurt yourself.” Lovino snarked from his place on the bench.

Antonio rolled his eyes at the characteristic sass, “At least I didn’t trip over my broom and crash into the wall.”

Lovino blushed, masking his embarrassment with anger, “Oi, that wasn’t my fault!”

“It never is.” Antonio laughed, rather enjoying how flustered his little employee was getting.

“You’re so stupid.” Lovino huffed, unable to deny the remark. The sun that streamed in through the window cast deep shadows on his face, making some of his sharp features even more severe. His eyes, as always, were a blazing molten gold. The bruising on his face had almost disappeared entirely, and the harsh marks on his neck were finally starting to fade away. 

With a satisfied nod at the observation, Antonio walked over to lean on the counter, “I brought some leftover soup for dinner tonight.”

Lovino perked up at the mention of food, no longer suspicious with the offering as he used to be, “What kind?”

Antonio almost laughed at the excitement in his voice, but resisted the urge to tease in favor of sidestepping the counter to retrieve a couple containers of soup, _“Menestra de veduras.”_

“You say that like I should know what that is.” Lovino grumbled, scooting over to give Antonio room to sit next to him.

“It’s a vegetable stew.” Antonio explained, handing over one of the containers. “We’re going to have to eat it cold, but I think it still tastes good.”

“We?” Lovino asked curiously, seemingly unconcerned that his meal would be served cold.

Antonio revealed his own bowl of soup, smiling nervously as he said, “Yeah, I thought I could eat with you tonight. Is that okay?”

Lovino bit at his lower lip, looking to where they were already sitting fairly close to each other. Eventually his shoulders slumped and he responded with a short nod, “Do what you want.”

Taking that as a victory, Antonio leaned back and dug into his own soup, “I’m glad! I feel like I don’t get to talk to you very much anymore.”

“Really? And here I thought you talk too much.” Lovino shot back, getting over his earlier apprehension by popping the cap off the container in his hands.

Antonio wordlessly handed him a spoon, smiling contentedly when it was accepted without any fuss. The first half of their meal was eaten without any words exchanged, both parties too focused on scarfing down their food as quickly as possible. 

The sun continued to fade, the deep oranges setting fire to the interior of the still little store. Antonio chanced a glance at Lovino, smiling softly at how quickly he was eating his meal. His frame was beginning to fill out, and he himself no longer looked so emaciated. Beyond physical traits, his demeanor was slowly getting less defensive even if he still had a hard time accepting help or kindness. It gave Antonio hope, and with a little nod, he launched into his own attempt to make things better, “So I actually think I owe you an apology.”

Lovino glanced to his side in confusion, “For what?”

“For messing with you earlier.” Antonio said sullenly, remorse thrumming dully in his chest. “I keep making you upset, and I’m sorry.”

Lovino's eyes were blown open in shock, freezing with his spoon halfway to his mouth. He slowly put the utensil down, turning his head curiously to the side, “You actually feel bad about that?”

“Of course!” Antonio nodded vehemently, remembering Francis’ words from earlier. “I don’t want to push too far, and you seemed pretty mad so…”

Lovino sighed, dragging a slow hand down the length of his face, “You’re going to make me say it out loud, aren’t you bastard?”

Antonio’s brow furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Lovino glared intently down at his bowl of soup, one of his hands absently reaching up to the yellowed bruising on his neck, “I don’t… look, you really don’t upset me.”

“Really?” Antonio asked in shock.

“Well, not in the way that you think.” Lovino said vaguely, still keeping his eyes resolutely down. “You’re oblivious, annoying, and way too fucking nice for your own good.”

“Um… thanks?” Antonio said slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

Lovino looked frustrated with himself, glaring at the soup like it had personally offended him. After a few more seconds of the one-sided staring match, he suddenly snapped those stunning hazels up, pinning Antonio to the spot with their intensity, “Listen, you have no idea what kind of bullshit I’ve put up with before. Do you really think that picking on my height is going to push me over the edge?”

When he put it that way, it did sound rather foolish. Still, Antonio really didn’t want to upset his little employee, “I guess not, but I really shouldn’t be trying to push your buttons.”

“You’re pushing my buttons right now, you oblivious bastard.” Lovino grumbled, leaning back to rest his weight on the back of the bench. 

“Sorry.” Antonio mumbled.

Lovino sighed loudly in annoyance, “Stop apologizing for stupid shit, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Sorry.”

“Fucking idiot.” Lovino huffed, pushing a hand through his hair.

With a little chuckle of amusement, Antonio returned to his bowl of soup. He felt reassured that he hadn’t pushed too far like Francis had warned, but part of him still felt worried. Lovino always made vague little comments about his life before he started sleeping in his store, but it was like pulling teeth trying to dig up what he meant by those remarks. But lately they’d grown a bit closer, so Antonio supposed he could try once again to find out what he meant, “Um, can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” Lovino shot back with a smirk.

Antonio pouted, “You know what I mean.”

Lovino gestured vaguely with his hand, “Sure, whatever. What is it?”

“How long have you been sleeping against buildings?” Antonio asked softly, hoping to get the information he wanted in a more roundabout way.

Instead of exploding like the last time he’d been asked such a question, Lovino sighed. He looked down with faraway eyes, brow furrowed in thought. Eventually he looked back up, taking in a shuddering breath before answering shortly, “Nine months.”

Antonio sucked in a sharp intake of breath, “That long?”

“Yup.” Lovino breathed, leaning down to place his bowl of soup under the bench and out of the way. When he sat back up, he instantly gathered his knees to his chest and elaborated, “I had enough money to sleep in some cheap hotels for a month or so, and sometimes when it’s too cold I’ll spend some of the money I saved, but usually I don’t have enough.”

“But you’re not homeless?” Antonio questioned, still more than confused about that bit.

Lovino’s shoulders scrunched up defensively, but his voice was resigned, “I have a home, I’m just… not ready to go back yet.”

Again with the vague answers, but Antonio felt like he was finally on the right track to getting some information, “You said you got into a fight?”

Lovino looked down to the ground and nodded, “I fucked up.”

“What happened?” Antonio very nearly whispered, afraid that if he spoke up then he would shatter the still atmosphere around them.

Lovino suddenly looked pained, leaning forward to rest his chin on the top of his knees, “I hurt them real bad.”

“Who?” Antonio prompted softly.

“My family.” Lovino whispered, his voice sounding painfully meek. “I got into a fight with my brother, and it… it got out of hand.”

Antonio nodded, hardly daring to move as the explanation continued.

“It was stupid, but I was just so angry.” Lovino suddenly sniffled, scrubbing at his eyes as he worked himself up. “I started yelling, and Feli begged me to stop but I wouldn’t. Grandpa had to step in, which just made me angrier because he _always_ took my brother’s side.”

Distantly Antonio thought that _Feli_ sounded kind of familiar, but he didn’t push.

“I almost killed him.” Lovino gasped, suddenly burying his face in his hands. “I almost fucking _killed_ him. How can I go back now?”

“What do you mean?” Antonio asked in shock, having to consciously make the effort not to throw a comforting arm around his shoulders.

“My grandpa, he wasn’t… I didn’t mean to, but he’s old and-” Lovino’s throat constricted before he could finish the statement. He took a moment to compose himself, coughing a few times in his hand before he mumbled, “When we got to the hospital, I just fucking lost it. We got into another fight and I hurt my brother — my little brother, I fucking hurt him so bad.” he gasped, truly on the verge of tears now.

“How?” Antonio pushed just a little further.

“Does it matter?” Lovino snarled, eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Stop asking these fucking questions, I-I don’t want to think about this shit, alright?”

“Have you ever talked to anyone about this?” Antonio prodded gently.

Lovino shook his head, “How can I? I’m such a fuck up, I can’t believe I hurt them like that.” he gripped his shirt right above his heart, still keeping at least most of his composure. “I-I fucking hate myself because of what I did, and I… I just-”

One of Antonio’s hands hovered awkwardly in the space between them, every instinct begging him to reach out and give the obviously distraught Italian a comforting hug. He managed to hold off just long enough to ask permission, “Is it alright if I touch you?”

He expected to be yelled at for even daring to ask such a thing, to be shrugged away and shouted down, but that’s not what happened. Lovino must have been more broken up than Antonio originally thought because he was suddenly nodding vehemently as he began to cry, “I just miss them so much.”

Antonio immediately threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling him firmly into his side. It was jarring to witness such an explosive person break down in such a manner. It wasn’t like he was wracked by sobs, but the shuddering way he was crying indicated that he was devastated. Antonio felt his heart break for him, wondering how long he’d been suppressing this for, “I’m sorry, Lovi.”

Lovino shook his head, bringing a hand up to try and swipe some of those traitorous tears away. His face was burning in embarrassment, and he couldn’t quite mask the tremor in his voice as he tried to growl, “If you tell _anyone_ about this-”

“I won’t, I promise.” Antonio reassured, feeling more than seeing the way Lovino relaxed into his side. Every once in a while, his shoulders would hitch up as he tried to choke back the quiet crying, but in the end he gave up in favor of burying his face in Antonio’s shoulder.

It was almost like he was touch-starved, and it actually hurt Antonio to watch him try and pull away only to surrender and slouch back over. It went on like that for a while, until late into the night. All was dark in the little store, not even the sound of Lovino’s muffled crying piercing through the silence anymore. Antonio looked down, noting with some shock that Lovino had quite literally cried himself to sleep. 

With a small smile, he settled down to relax completely. Lovino was curled up on his side, his head rested completely on Antonio’s shoulder. There was no viable way to escape, and even if there would be hell to pay in the morning, he knew that he couldn’t leave.

Antonio brushed some hair out of Lovino’s face, knowing that he’d never get away with the action if he was awake. Absently he wondered if he’d ever get to be this physically close to Lovino again. Probably not — odds were that Lovino would demand he forget about this and they would move on like nothing happened. Actually, that’s probably exactly what would happen.

Antonio pursed his lips, realizing with some concern that the thought upset him. The more he uncovered about Lovino, the more he wanted to know. It was clear that he didn’t know how to express himself, and tonight was probably the result of bottling up his emotions for too long. Maybe that was the reason he lashed out — then again, that could just be his personality. Either way, Antonio wanted to get to the bottom of things. He would have to take things slow, maybe start by becoming a friend, but it would be worth it.

Shifting so he could rest more comfortably against the back of the bench, Antonio tugged Lovino a little closer. Once again he wondered just how hard he would be punched in the morning for this, but he couldn’t really find it in himself to care. Things may be awkward the next day, and maybe also for the days to come, but Antonio thought he could outlast anything just to keep this fiery little vagrant safe and off the streets.

Something in Antonio’s head whispered that he was getting too attached.

Another part of his mind, the louder part, didn’t care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's BACK BITCHES
> 
> lmao sorry, but I'm finally home for like two days before I leave again, so thought I'd post this. I really need to focus on my other story, yet here I am
> 
> Thanks for reading, it's good to be back! Let me know what you think - or any predictions to Lovi's past... he kind of ranted a bit here, but it's still pretty vague sooo ya know ;)
> 
> Okie I'm outtie, see y'all later!


	12. Chapter 12

Antonio woke up the next morning impossibly sore, the upright position in which he slept having caused what felt like all of his muscles to cramp up. He had ended up spending the whole night in his store, kept warm only by the small body curled up to his side. For all Antonio knew, Lovino had spent the entire night in the exact same position, never once moving away. If anything, he only ended up closer, his sleeping form still very much unmoving even now as the sun rose ever higher in the sky.

Since he was so deeply unconscious, Antonio felt no need to avert his blatant staring. He shifted the way he sat, moving so that Lovino’s head rested more comfortably in the crook of his arm. The little Italian didn’t so much as twitch, only the deep rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was indeed still alive. Antonio smiled softly at how serene the picture was, brushing some hair out of his face just like he did last night.

At the thought of the previous night, Antonio’s smile faded. The emotional outburst seemed wildly out of character for Lovino, and part of him wanted to address it. However, something told him that it would _not_ go well if he even so much as hinted at what he witnessed. It saddened Antonio that his young employee felt the need to bottle those emotions up, last night just a taste of how hurt he really was. He wanted Lovino to open up more, to maybe share some of the problems to lighten the emotional burden, but there was simply no way to go about that without either causing him to explode or flee.

Antonio sighed, absently bringing a hand up and down the length of Lovino’s arm in a soothing gesture — more for his sake than Lovino’s, if he was being honest with himself. The little store was flooded with shimmering gold, as bright as a certain pair of stunning hazels Antonio had grown so fond of. Briefly he wondered if he could find a flower that could keep up with such quiet intensity, such bold defiance. Probably not.

The sudden shift of a body to his side had Antonio looking down with a little pout (he had just gotten comfortable again). Lovino mumbled something unintelligible, not opening his eyes as he settled down even further with a contented sigh. He pulled his arms in closer towards his middle, his small body ensuring that he, unlike Antonio, was able to stay completely on the bench as he slept. At least, Antonio thought he was asleep, but it wasn’t clear. 

He really didn’t want to move from this comfortable position, but he really needed to get up and get ready for the day. So, with just a twinge of regret, Antonio whispered, “Hey, Lovi.”

“Mmm.” was the hummed response.

Antonio nearly rolled his eyes at how he was able to portray such annoyance with just a singular sound, “We have to get up.”

Lovino either wasn’t lucid enough to process the words, or he didn’t care, “ ‘m sleepin’.”

“Clearly not.” Antonio huffed, now shaking his shoulder.

Lovino’s face scrunched up in displeasure, his deep golden eyes finally peeling open to challenge the shining sun itself with their smoldering intensity. 

_Marigolds._ Antonio thought briefly. _Or maybe daylilies._

There was confusion etched into Lovino’s face, his relaxed posture growing more tense as his surroundings slowly registered. He looked around wildly, instantly pulling away to disentangle their bodies. He pushed himself to the end of the bench, bringing his knees up to his chest like a barrier before growling, “Just what the hell are you playing at, bastard?”

Antonio nearly jumped at the vitriol at his voice, confused that he was being met with such contempt after last night, “I’m sorry?”

“You will be.” Lovino said darkly, shoulders scrunched up defensively. “What, you thought it was okay to just cozy up next to me while I slept? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Realization dawned on Antonio, “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” Lovino growled, but in the next moment he seemed to recall something. He looked around the store with a newfound sense of coherence, finally meeting Antonio’s shocked gaze directly with remarkably less rage. His shoulders slumped as he brought a hand up to rub at his eyes, which Antonio was only now noticing were red from the tears he shed last night. Lovino seemed to deflate the more he remembered, and while he didn’t apologize for his accusation, he did make an effort to lower his voice, “Last night… look, it won’t happen again.”

That disappointed Antonio, but he nodded nonetheless, “Whatever you want, but it’s okay to cry.”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Yeah, whatever. I’m fine, seriously.”

Antonio scoffed, “Somehow, I don’t believe you.”

“And somehow, I don’t give a shit.” he instantly shot back.

“Fine, have it your way.” Antonio grumbled, wondering what he got himself into by vowing to get Lovino to open up. It was like trying to tear down a wall using nothing but a toothpick, something that was technically possible but not without an inhuman amount of determination and stubbornness. He’d let Lovino win this round, but Antonio would make it his personal mission to chip away every single day.

Lovino suddenly kicked his legs out and over the side of the bench, standing up to stretch with a pained groan, “Damn, that hurts.”

Antonio felt inclined to agree, wincing when he heard a series of pops come from his back when he twisted to the side. The bench, while comfortable to sit on, was not ideal to sleep on all night. He looked down to his crumpled clothing, realizing a bit late that he didn’t have anything to change into. With a sigh, he stood next to Lovino, “Hey, so I have to run back to my apartment. Do you want to come with me, or just stay here?”

Lovino pursed his lips in thought, silently contemplating things in his head, “When does the fuckface get here?”

Once again, Antonio felt like rolling his eyes, but he resisted in favor of checking the time, “Francis will be here in thirty minutes.”

“I’ll go with you.” Lovino said almost instantly.

Antonio was shocked by the lack of hesitation in his voice, but was quick to get over it in favor of smiling, “Cool, we can grab something to eat while we’re there too.”

As always, the mention of food caused Lovino to perk right up. He bent down and picked up the discarded bowl of soup from last night, putting the lid back in place as he waited for Antonio to do the same. Again he let Antonio lead the way out of the store, but unlike every other time he didn’t put so much of a distance between them.

They turned down the sidewalk, Antonio shivering when the crisp air set into his bones. He sneaked a glance at Lovino, noticing that he was also shaking (but doing his best not to show it). Like last night, Antonio wanted to throw an arm around his shoulders, but he knew how well that would go over — that is to say, not at all. Instead he resolved himself to find something even warmer for him to wear.

Antonio turned his gaze downward as they walked, not knowing exactly what (if anything) he should say to breach the awkward silence that surrounded them. He spotted a lone dandelion growing up from the cracks on the sidewalk, and without any hesitation Antonio bent down and plucked it from the ground. 

Lovino twisted his head to the side in a rare show of curiosity, “What’s your fixation with those stupid weeds?”

Antonio snorted in amusement, “You’re one to talk, I still don’t know why you left one in my jacket.”

“Hey, don’t change the subject, bastard!” Lovino yelled, although his cheeks were dusted a light red. 

“I would never.” Antonio laughed, twirling the little flower idly between his fingers. “Honestly, I just think they’re pretty. I also really like this shade of yellow, it reminds me of the sun.”

Lovino snorted, “Seriously?”

Antonio nodded, his smile turning softer the longer he looked at the flower, “People are so quick to dismiss dandelions because they think they’re weeds, but even if they aren’t as impressive as some other flowers, they’re still worth the time to pick. I have a vase I keep in the store to remind people that wildflowers and weeds can be just as worthy as some of the flashier flowers.” He kept twirling the cheerful little weed between his fingers, turning to smile brightly at Lovino.

For some reason the admission rendered Lovino momentarily speechless, his gaze fixed on some point far on the horizon. He looked like he was reliving some type of memory, and Antonio was about to ask what he was thinking about when he spoke up first, “My brother and I used to pick dandelions when we were kids. I always thought it was stupid, but he loved making those dumb flower crowns out of them.”

Antonio was taken aback by how gentle he spoke, never thinking that Lovino was capable of speaking with such wistful longing. Regret was palpable in his voice, but so was a warm sense of nostalgia.

“Feli was better at it than I was, but he always did have more patience than me.” Lovino managed a breathy chuckle, the reminiscing bringing out a softer side of him. “One day I finally figured it out, and he was so proud of me. I ran to grandpa and he was proud too. I think I was like five or something, and it’s so stupid, but it’s still one of my favorite memories.”

“That’s not stupid at all.” Antonio said sincerely, putting a hand on his shoulder without realizing what he was doing. “It sounds like you really love them.”

Lovino didn’t even bother shrugging away the hand on his shoulder, his eyes filling with tears, “Yeah, and I fucking betrayed them.”

For some reason, Antonio didn’t fully believe that. He really didn’t know the full story, but the way Lovino spoke showed just how much he cared, “I really think you should go back to them, Lovi.”

Lovino had started shaking his head before the full statement was even out, “I can’t. I’m different now, I don’t know if I can ever face them again.”

“How are you different?” Antonio asked softly, finally letting his hand slide away.

With a shrug, Lovino shook himself out of his dazed state he’d been caught in, “Well, for starters I’m a fucking prostitute, as you so kindly pointed out to me last week.”

Antonio flinched at the sarcasm in his voice, laughing sheepishly, “Um, sorry about that.”

“Well it’s not like you were wrong. I’ve done some pretty shitty things to survive, and I’m not proud of it.” He suddenly looked away in shame, face twisted in something akin to grief, “There’s no way I can go back, I-I don’t want to disappoint them anymore than I already have. Everything that’s happened since I left… they wouldn’t understand, I just can’t.”

Antonio really wasn’t sure what to say to that, especially since he knew that any words of comfort he could offer would only be dismissed. So instead he didn’t say anything, opting to be a source of silent support on the off chance that Lovino did choose to elaborate.

Unsurprisingly, he never did. Instead, Lovino used the remaining time they had on the walk over to compose himself. By the time they made it to Antonio’s little apartment, he was right back to his normal defensive self.

“I’m taking a shower.” Lovino mumbled the moment they stepped foot inside the apartment, shooting quickly forward to lock himself in the bathroom.

Antonio wasn’t even given time to acknowledge him before he was gone, and briefly he hoped that he’d be alright. It had been an emotional handful of hours for the decidedly emotionally-stunted Italian. Too late, he realized that he never had the chance to give Lovino a change of clothes before he was gone, so he turned into his bedroom in search of something for him to wear.

He dug through his dresser, trying to find something that was both warm and would be a nice color to match Lovino’s warm complexion. As he was searching, his hand brushed against something that made a soft rustling sound. Antonio froze for a moment before once again trying to reach for the source of whatever made the noise. His hand closed over a piece of paper, and he dug it out to take a look.

It was a picture of him and a pretty blond, posing awkwardly in front of a stone building — one that he recognized from the university he graduated from. Antonio smiled softly at the picture, remembering a time not too far gone. He experienced his first heartbreak in his second year of university, crushed by a girl he thought he would marry. At the time, Antonio swore off falling in love forever, but that didn’t last long. Not when he fell in love with his business and his work (something Francis said was not a suitable replacement for a lover, but whatever).

Despite the pain of being left alone, Antonio thought that he’d gotten over everything fairly well. He hasn’t been in a relationship since, but that was fine. He’d just keep working in his beloved little store, letting whatever come wash over him.

Antonio reached up and set the picture on top of the dresser, bending back down to rifle through the drawer. He was finally successful in his quest to find a warm garment of clothing, standing up with a honey-golden sweater that was thicker than most things he owned. It was also a bit older, which meant it was smaller. While it would still be far too large for Lovino, he wouldn’t be swimming in it like some of the other things he’d worn thus far.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any trousers for Lovino to borrow — even a belt couldn’t help keep anything around his still too-thin waist. Every few days he would give Lovino a pair of sweatpants to wear while his jeans were thrown in the wash, but it would probably be best to actually take a trip to the store and buy him some new clothes.

Antonio nearly pouted at the thought, looking down to the cozy sweater in his hands. He loved the way his sweaters enveloped Lovino’s small frame, how absolutely adorable he looked when such a fluffy thing swallowed him whole. It would be a real shame to put him in fitted clothing, but Antonio knew that he had to eventually — and he would, just not today.

With a short nod to himself, Antonio made his way outside the bathroom where he heard the water running. He knocked gently on the door, leaning in to say, “Hey, I have something for you to wear.”

“Leave it outside.” was the muffled response, the water cutting abruptly off.

Antonio complied with the short demand, placing the sweater on the ground in front of the door before turning on his heel and towards the kitchen. He bypassed the small table that sat in the middle of the room and instantly stuck his head in the fridge. Once there, he grabbed a carton of eggs and made quick work preparing them on the stove to his immediate right. He began humming lightly to himself as he flipped the eggs, tapping his foot to a soundless melody before the sound of someone shuffling quietly in grabbed his attention.

Lovino stood at the edge of the kitchen, his dark hair steadily dripping water onto the honey-gold sweater he was swimming in. It was a lovely shade on him, working well with his hazel irises and olive complexion. Actually, the more he thought about it, Lovino looked good in almost everything he wore regardless of the color. Antonio pondered that for a moment, but was shocked out of his staring by a biting, “If you keep staring at me like that, we’re going to have a serious problem.”

“Oh, sorry…” Antonio trailed off before realizing he was still staring rather fixedly. He physically shook his head to snap out of it, gesturing to the table instead, “Here, take a seat. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”

Lovino acquiesced with little fuss, although he was still grumbling wordlessly under his breath. He stretched his back by turning to the side in his seat, another pained groan working its way past his lips.

Realizing that he himself was still sore, Antonio moved to stretch one of his arms. That little bench really was awful to sleep on, although Lovino had yet to voice any complaints. He’d have to think of better sleeping arrangements for him, and Antonio mentally filed the thought away to revisit later.

Breakfast was ready shortly thereafter, the both of them eating in relative silence. Antonio attempted to start a conversation once or twice, but it was quickly shot down by Lovino each time. True to his nature, the fiery Italian had closed himself off almost entirely. He refused to share any more information, last night and this morning apparently too much for him to handle. Antonio was just a little disappointed, but not at all surprised. He would revisit the topic at another time, hopefully soon but if he had to be more patient then he would be.

The walk over to the store was also made in relative silence, Lovino completely checked out both emotionally and physically. He ambled tiredly down the pavement, hissing in pain every once and a while when his muscles protested, and once again Antonio thought that he needed to think of a better place for him to sleep.

The uncharacteristic silence of their walk was only broken up when they finally arrived back at the store, Francis perking up at the sound of the cheerful bell, “Toni, just who I was waiting for!”

Antonio smiled, standing to the side to allow Lovino in next to him, “Why were you waiting for me?”

“Why _wouldn’t_ I wait for you, my beautiful spanish flower?” Francis said with a dramatic flip of his hair.

Antonio rolled his eyes fondly at the response, almost laughing when he heard Lovino choke on a fake gag, “Alright, now what’s the real reason?”

Francis kept his teasing smile up even as he reached down to grab something beneath the counter, “Somebody stopped by looking for you. Actually, you just missed him.”

“Really? Who was it?” Antonio asked curiously, making his way further into the store.

Francis shrugged, “I’m not sure, but he left something.” He lifted something up, placing it gently down on the counter, a tattered lump of cloth.

Antonio was going to ask exactly what he was looking at when he heard somebody choke on their own breath. He whipped around, finding that Lovino had gone rigid with his eyes blown wide open.

“That’s mine.” he said breathlessly, his gaze fixed on the counter.

“What?” Antonio asked in surprise, leaning closer to find that it wasn’t a lump of cloth at all. 

It was an old weather-worn bag.

Or, to be more accurate, the bag Lovino had lost — presumably to somebody who’s been harassing him.

And now that man knew where to find him.

Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is that some PLOT I SEE???
> 
> Lol, it might be... although I don't want to pull our focus away too much from our lovely couple. Anywho, I hope you liked the chapter! Some even more information from Lovi, although he's still vague as hell. Oh well, at least he's actually talking now lmao
> 
> Lemme know what you think, I live for feedback haha
> 
> I think that's all I got for now, so I'll catch you dudes later :)


	13. Chapter 13

When the initial shock of seeing his bag returned wore off, Lovino instantly pitched forward with a panicked gleam to his eyes. He snatched the bag from the counter, pulling it roughly open to dig through it. He looked perplexed, then angry, and suddenly he was yelling, “That son of a bitch fucking stole from me!”

Antonio nearly jumped at the volume, but shook himself out of it to take a few swift steps forward, “Did he take everything?”

“Yeah, he — wait a minute, there’s something in here.” Lovino suddenly pulled out a slip of paper, the curious way in which he was looking at it indicating that this was a foreign object.

“Um, does somebody want to fill big brother in?” Francis asked, still standing frozen behind the counter.

Antonio had his eyes fixed on Lovino and the way he was now reading an apparent note, answering his friend without looking up, “The guy that dropped off the bag originally stole it from Lovi, but apparently it’s back, so-”

The rest of the statement was cut short when Lovino’s grip on the note became painfully tight, the loud crinkling of paper echoing in the small store. His face had long been drained of any color, his eyes still scanning over the piece of paper with reckless abandon.

The longer he stared, the more worried Antonio got. He tried to look over Lovino’s shoulder to try and read the note, but the Italian suddenly crumpled it up in his hand.

“What did it say?” Antonio asked curiously, disgruntled that he’d been denied the opportunity to read it for himself.

Lovino’s shoulders slumped, his voice devoid of almost all emotion as he said, “Does it matter?”

The absence of aggression was what really made Antonio nervous, “He left you a note?”

“Sure, let’s go with that.” Lovino said hollowly.

Antonio felt something cold crawl under his skin, and especially with the way that Lovino was now looking around the store rather wistfully. 

Apparently Francis was worried too, trying to break the Italian out of it the only way he knew how to, “Hey, what’s with the face? Let’s have a little smile, _non?”_

“Yeah, whatever.” was the lackluster response, Lovino not even looking up from his fixed stare on the vase of dandelions.

Francis met Antonio’s alarmed expression with a similar look of impossible worry — funny, Antonio didn’t know that the frenchman actually cared. But if he felt any kind of surprise about that fact, then the feeling was obliterated by the horrible pit of dread that hollowed out his chest.

Yes, Lovino’s demeanor was _that_ off-putting.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Antonio asked softly, not daring to raise his voice when they were suspended in such taut silence.

Lovino physically shook himself out of his dazed stupor, shoving the note deep into his pocket to instead turn on his heel. He retrieved his broom, addressing Antonio shortly as he walked away, “I’ll be fine, bastard.”

While Antonio begged to differ, he knew how impossible it was to force an explanation out of his obstinate employee. So he didn’t, and without another word he walked behind the counter to grab his apron.

On his way to the back, Francis caught his upper arm in a tight grip. He leaned over and said just loud enough to be heard properly over the distant scratch of the broom, “When that guy was in here, he mentioned you.”

Antonio twisted his head to the side in confusion, and no small amount of worry, “What did he want?”

“Well, apparently he’s under the assumption that you two are dating.” Francis whispered with a questioning gleam in his eyes.

Antonio remembered saying that the night Lovino had grabbed onto him, sounding so scared his voice actually cracked when he spoke. At the time it had been an attempt to shrug the man off, although that clearly hadn’t worked, “Yeah, that’s kind of my fault.”

Francis nodded slowly, not bothering to push the issue further. He looked over Antonio’s shoulder with something like worry, turning back down to say, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that you were threatened. Are you sure you want to keep our resident spitfire around?”

Antonio recoiled, not liking what his friend was insinuating he should do, “Of course! Lovi doesn’t have anywhere else to go, I can’t put him back on the streets.” he whisper-yelled.

“I’m only saying this because I’m your friend.” Francis said firmly, finally releasing the grip he had on his arm. “We have no idea what Lovino’s tied up in, and I don’t want to see you hurt for somebody you hardly know.”

Antonio rubbed absently at his upper arm, growling as loudly as he dared, “I know him enough, and I’m not going to abandon him to some creep.” 

“What if he abandons you first?” was the cold response.

“He won’t.” Antonio said immediately, shocking himself with how readily the words escaped his lips. He twisted his head over his shoulder, observing as Lovino swept the same spot without ever looking up. It was like he wasn’t aware of his actions, his movements robotic as he lost himself to the haze of his own mind. Antonio thought that he didn’t like to see his fiery employee so despondent, and idly he wondered what he could say to bring him back.

Francis watched Antonio as he stared, shoulders slumping as he mumbled softly, “Have you forgotten what happened the last time you got this attached?”

Antonio turned back sharply, his eyes darkening for a moment before he snapped himself out of it, “This is nothing like that.”

“Sure it isn’t.” Francis huffed, patting his friend twice on the shoulder before turning away. “Just be careful.”

Antonio grumbled wordlessly under his breath, irritation being the most prominent emotion he was feeling. Logically he knew that his friend was just looking out for him, but right now he was frustrated, and worried, and really not in the right kind of mood to deal with the host of emotions that suddenly welled up in his chest. Once again, he spared a glance to Lovino, his expression softening the longer he watched him mindlessly sweep. Maybe he could ask directly what was going on (even though his chances for answers were slim to none, as he noted earlier).

Still, it couldn’t hurt to try.

With a calming breath, Antonio made his way over towards Lovino. In the process he bypassed Francis, but the pointed look the man sent was subsequently ignored. The closer he got, the harsher the scraping sound of the broom against the tile was, and with some concern he noticed the vice-like grip Lovino had around the handle. Without thinking, Antonio reached out and placed his hands over Lovino’s, if only to get him to loosen his grip, “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Lovino jerked back, but relaxed when he saw who it was. He looked down to their hands, face crumpling in some unknown emotion before peering back up, “Idiot, get your hands off of me.”

Antonio laughed sheepishly, removing his hands to instead shove them awkwardly in his front pockets, “Sorry, you just looked really spaced out.”

“Well, you always look like that, but you don’t see me making a big deal about it.” Lovino shot back, his voice already sounding sharper.

While Antonio managed a breathy chuckle at the remark, the majority of him still felt impossibly worried. The small smile he’d previously been wearing dropped from his face, and suddenly he was asking in a low voice, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Lovino looked momentarily shocked at the offer, his golden eyes roaming over Antonio appraisingly, wistfully. He bit at his lower lip, hands wringing the handle of the broom painfully tight as he said in a resigned voice, “Just… be careful, alright?”

The words were eerily similar to what Francis had been saying, and Antonio found that he could do nothing but nod dumbly. He watched Lovino a moment longer, breath catching in his throat when they made direct eye contact. It felt like those molten irises set him ablaze, that intense fire piercing through him and out the back of his skull. It was overwhelming, it was surreal, it was… over too soon.

Lovino awkwardly coughed into his hand as an excuse to turn away, keeping his eyes tragically averted so he could mumble, “Sorry.”

Antonio was already shaking his head, “It’s alright. You have…” _beautiful eyes_ is what he wanted to say, but the words caught in his throat so all that came out was, “...eyes.”

The absurdity of the would-be compliment threw Lovino off, and suddenly he was trying to muffle a sharp bark of laughter, “Yes I do. You have eyes too”

Antonio went red in embarrassment, whether for what he almost blurted out or what actually came out, he wasn’t sure. He wanted to scurry away for the shame he felt, but Lovino’s smile is what got him to stay. It was rare to see his little employee smile so genuinely, even if it was small. It made Antonio feel warm inside, confirming what he always knew would be true — Lovino really did look lovely with a proper smile.

“Hey, Lovi?” Antonio asked softly, not sure exactly what he was going to say next.

“What do you want now?” Lovino tried to huff, but there wasn’t any annoyance behind it.

Antonio twisted his lips to the side, trying to figure out where to go from here. He felt like he should say something, _do_ something, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what.

It was starting to get awkward the longer the two stared at each other, and suddenly Lovino was turning away with a sigh, “Stop staring, you oblivious bastard. I’ve got shit to do before I lea-” he cut himself abruptly off, beginning to sweep with a renewed fervor.

The spell was thoroughly broken, and Antonio was able to shake himself out of his daze. He wondered what Lovino was going to say before he cut himself off, but decided that it didn’t matter much. Antonio cleared his throat, turning to get back to his own work with the parting words of, “Right, sorry.”

The rest of the day flew by, the store fraught with an awkward tension that refused to dissipate. To make matters worse, Francis kept shooting him pointed looks like he knew something. Even worse yet, Lovino exchanged _exasperated_ looks with the frenchman — Antonio wasn’t sure what he would do if those two started getting along.

While things were awkward for reasons Antonio couldn’t fully identify, this was the calmest his store had been since he first recruited Lovino’s help. For once, nothing was broken, and not a single barb was passed between his two employees. It should have been encouraging, but to Antonio it filled him with unease. Lovino kept zoning out, his eyes clouding over in thought to the point where he would just stand listless in the middle of the aisle, and if Antonio wasn’t mistaken, then there was something like _regret_ in his eyes when he turned to stare at the dandelions.

By the time the sun started falling, Antonio was seriously on edge. Lovino was sitting on his bench, one of his fingers tapping restlessly against his leg — right above his pocket. Once again, Antonio felt his muscles protest, and he remembered just how uncomfortable that bench was. He thought of his own apartment, to the old couch he kept in his living room. It wasn’t the best, but it was sure to be leagues better than that hard wooden bench. While it was unlikely that Lovino would accept, Antonio felt the need to offer anyway, “So, um-”

“Nope.” Lovino said shortly.

Antonio pouted, “I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“You don’t need to say anything, I know it’ll be something stupid.” Lovino said with a light chuckle.

Antonio groaned in annoyance, leaning heavily against the counter, “C’mon, at least let me get a word out before you shoot me down.”

“Alright then, shoot.” Lovino said with an amused grin.

Glaring lightly ahead, Antonio launched into his offer, “So I know how uncomfortable that bench is, and I have a couch in my apartment-”

“Absolutely not.” Lovino cut him off sharply, expression no longer so amused.

“Why not? You’ve already been to my apartment, and you know I wouldn’t try anything!” Antonio said emphatically.

“Bastard, do you even realize how dangerous that is?” Lovino huffed, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. “Look, I appreciate the gesture, but-”

“C’mon, Lovi!” Antonio whined, showing off the most pathetic puppy-eyes he could muster. “You can trust me, I promise my couch is super comfortable — I mean, it’s a little old, but it’s _so_ soft! You won’t be sore when you wake up, and I’ll make breakfast in the morning, and-”

“Jesus, shut up!” Lovino cut him off, his expression a strange mixture of annoyance and… _fondness?_

Antonio shook his head, deciding he was imagining that emotion. Instead, he smiled and said, “So what do you think?”

Lovino fidgeted awkwardly with his hands, his posture screaming uncertainty, “I can’t.”

Antonio deflated, “You’d be safe with me.”

“Idiot-”

“I promise.”

Lovino’s breath caught in his throat at the last part, scowl faltering for a moment before he had time to bring it back up. He began fidgeting again, shifting where he sat on the bench as he contemplated what to do next.

Throughout it all, Antonio waited patiently. He attempted to plead with his eyes alone, not knowing why he wanted this so badly. 

Eventually Lovino’s shoulders slumped, the longing look in his eyes not escaping Antonio’s notice before he said, “I think I can trust you, but… I can’t.”

Antonio felt a dull pain at the rejection, “Why not?”

“I _can’t.”_ Lovino said forcefully, like he was begging to be understood. “You’re too nice, bastard. You shouldn’t even be inviting someone like me to your home, don’t you know it’s dangerous?”

“Why is it dangerous?” Antonio asked softly, hardly daring to move for the tension he felt.

“Does it matter?” Lovino whispered, pulling his knees up in front of him. “I’m tired, just leave already.”

Antonio shook his head, backing off completely when Lovino turned harshly on his side to face the back of the bench. He was clearly done talking for the night, but still Antonio lingered. Something felt off, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with the note that still sat in Lovino’s pocket.

“Fucking leave!” Lovino suddenly shouted.

Antonio jumped, his feet already turning away before he could get a hold of them. He hesitated at the edge of the counter, eyes scanning over Lovino’s frame as he tried to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling, “Lovi, I-”

“Don’t make me say it again, bastard.” Lovino mumbled, curling up even tighter on his side. “I’m tired, I’ll see you in the morning.”

The relief Antonio felt at the silent promise behind those words was what finally convinced him to turn towards the door. He turned off the lights (leaving one on for Lovino’s sake) before silently opening the door. He looked over his shoulder, saying as softly as he dared, “Have a good night, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

There was a wordless grumble of acknowledgement, but that was it. With a sigh, Antonio realized that was the best he was going to get, and he finally made his way to stand completely in the street. He turned and locked the door, double checking it (and then checking it again) to make sure the building was secure. The night was crisp, but Antonio didn’t feel the stinging chill — after all, he would get to see Lovino in the morning, and that was enough to keep him warm the entire walk home.

* * *

Antonio nearly launched himself out of bed the next morning, feeling unbelievably energized for some reason. He hummed to himself as he got ready, sparing a single moment to bask in the sunlight that poured in through his bedroom window. He practically danced into his kitchen, grabbing an apple for himself and a packaged muffin for Lovino. Even the way the birds chirped seemed just a little bit brighter, a little bit happier today.

Truly, nothing could bring him down.

Instead of walking like he normally would, Antonio nearly jogged over to his little store, far too excited to see his ill-tempered employee. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but it might have something to do with the fact that he realized that it _was_ fondness in Lovino’s voice last night, that he _did_ actually enjoy Antonio’s company. The small epiphany had him grinning stupidly into his pillow late into the night, his heart fluttering like some giddy teenager talking about their crush.

Antonio picked up his tune where he left it off in the apartment, humming contentedly when he finally reached his store. He unlocked the front door, announcing himself as he stepped in with a flourish, “It’s time to get up, Lovi!”

Silence.

There wasn’t even a grumble of annoyance, and Antonio wondered just how tired Lovino was to sleep through his loud greeting. With a mischievous smirk, he snuck up towards the counter, sidestepping it to jump in front of the sleeping form that was always on the bench… and… 

There was nobody there.

Antonio’s heart plummeted in his chest, the cheerful morning suddenly taking a dark turn. He noticed that the blanket was folded neatly at the edge of the bench, the small throw pillow resting right on top like it normally was. The only thing that was missing was, “Lovino?”

There was no answer from anywhere in the store, Antonio now running down each aisle and even into the back in search of his missing employee. He looked around frantically, tears actually coming to his eyes as he realized that he’d been abandoned in the middle of the night.

“Oh _Dios,_ where would he go?” Antonio mumbled under his breath, going so far as to check the side of the building where he first met the foul-mouthed vagrant. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing there but those emerald ivy leaves. 

_You’re too attached._

Antonio returned to his store, looking around listlessly as he tried to figure out what to do next. He felt lost, and more than a little worried.

_He’ll abandon you._

Suddenly he remembered the note Lovino had crumpled up in his hand, and once again he was itching to know what it had said. He thought — no, he _knew_ — that the note was the reason that his little employee had left so suddenly… without a proper goodbye.

_You’ll get hurt._

Antonio shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts, the betrayal he felt starting to truly sink in before the sharp feeling of _hurt_ could sneak up on him. It hurt because Francis was right, it hurt because he knew that something like this would happen, it hurt because he could have stopped this outcome.

It hurt because Lovino lied to him.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” Antonio said hollowly, shoulders slumping as he sat heavily down on the bench. He glanced shortly to his vase of dandelions, remembering the story Lovino told him about the flower crowns. Briefly Antonio thought that his little Italian would look so cute wearing a bright ring of flowers atop his head, and something in his chest hurt when he realized that he may never get to see that, or his smile, or hear his irritated grumblings that were never really that irritated, the way his eyes crinkled around the edges always giving him away, and-

“Oh.” Antonio mumbled, eyes blown wide in realization. He leaned backwards until his shoulder blades hit the back of the bench, staring resolutely at the ceiling as he grappled with the fact that he may actually _like_ Lovino more than he originally thought. He wasn’t sure how deep that emotion went, but with a pang he realized he may never get to explore the feeling further.

With a heavy sigh, Antonio brought a hand up to rest on his forehead. More than anything he prayed that Lovino was safe and alive. He was a fighter, a survivor, and there was no way in hell that he’d go down silently.

“Just come back, okay?” Antonio whispered to the ceiling, hoping against hope that his prayers would be answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an important announcement to make.
> 
> After thirteen l o n g chapters, I have finally deleted the short chapters tag. 
> 
> It will be missed.
> 
> Lmao, for real though, I realize that I have no self control, so I said TO HELL WITH THAT TAG YEET. 
> 
> In other news: Antonio might actually like Lovino more than he thought he did??? I'm so shocked???? It's only like 30,000 words into this fic and he's JUST NOW realizing that he maybe, possibly, probably has a crush??????????
> 
> Save this boy and his oblivious ass, pls.
> 
> Okay, enough of my crackhead ramblings. Thanks so much for reading, and let me know what you think! I wonder where Lovi ran off to, hmmmm
> 
> Next chapter should be up soon, but until then, have a wonderful day/night!


	14. Chapter 14

Lovino didn’t come back that day, or the next one for that matter. It was now the third day since the Italian left and by the time night fell, Antonio felt like he’d never seen his little employee ever again. Everything seemed a little less vibrant, a little less real as he was forced to grapple with that possibility. It may have been a bit melodramatic, but it hurt pretty bad to realize that the person you may actually, maybe (probably) have some feelings for just up and leaves without giving a reason why.

Antonio was sulking, and he knew it. It was obvious from the way his face was set in a perpetual pout, to his less than energized way of speaking. He scrubbed at the countertop with a level of harshness that wasn’t completely necessary, fixated on a spot that’s been there since he bought the building.

The sun was once again making its slow descent, those lovely oranges and deep yellows no longer so bright. The store was closed, but Francis still lingered. The man should have been gone by now, but he simply refused. Instead he swept by the front door, humming a cheerful little tune as he worked. Antonio knew that his friend was worried about him and that’s why he stayed, but the blond wouldn’t ever admit that. 

He looked down to the countertop, noticing that it was the cleanest it could possibly be. He threw the rag to the side, leaning over the counter to rest his head in his hand. It certainly was boring without the constant bickering and vulgar language, the silence left in the wake of Lovino’s departure being the hardest part. Well, it was silent until Antonio’s phone started blaring, cutting through the horrible stillness with a bright little jingle.

Antonio jumped, fumbling awkwardly to dig his phone out of his pocket. He looked down at the screen, lips turning downward when he recognized who was trying to video call him. Gilbert made an effort to call every couple weeks or so, but Antonio really wasn’t in the mood to speak with his boisterous friend. He was going to hang up and just send an apologetic text promising to call tomorrow, but somebody abruptly swiped the phone from his hand.

“Hey!” Antonio yelled, reaching futilely across the counter to take his phone back.

Francis rolled his eyes, answering the call with a smile, “Gil, _mon beau!_ Ready to take me on that date yet?”

“What the hell? You’re not Toni!” Gilbert whined, although he didn’t sound as upset as his words would imply.

Antonio pouted, stomping around the counter to swipe his phone back. He looked to the screen, finding that Gilbert was lounging around on a couch, a broad smile firmly in place, “Sorry, Francis stole my phone.”

“It was for your own good.” Francis responded, squeezing in next to Antonio so he could be included in the video call.

Gilbert rolled his eyes, but his smile was still the most pronounced feature on his face, “So how are you, dudes?”

“Well, Toni here has been-”

“Great. We’re both doing great.” Antonio finished sharply, sending a warning glare to the blond. “How was your flight?”

If Gilbert caught the tense exchange, then he didn’t show it, “Eh, about as crappy as always. There was this stupid ass kid who wouldn’t stop crying the entire time, apparently my eyes freaked him out”

Antonio chuckled, feeling just a bit better the longer he talked to his loud friend, “You’re flying back here in a couple weeks though, right?”

“I sure am!” Gilbert yelled, clearly excited.

“Gil, can you keep it down?” came a disembodied voice from further away.

“No can do, _bruder!”_ Gilbert shouted back way louder than what was strictly necessary.

Francis smiled that wicked smile of his, “Is that your brother?”

“Yeah, I’m at his apartment right now.” Gilbert said obliviously, clearly not knowing that he was opening himself up to the blond’s relentless teasing.

“Ah, and that boyfriend of his is there too, _non?”_ Francis smirked, and had Antonio been in a better mood then he would have contributed to his friend’s mischief.

Gilbert nodded excitedly, still completely oblivious to what was going on, “Yup! Do you guys want to meet him?”

“Oh, we would _love_ to.” Francis drawled.

“Alright, give me a sec.” Gilbert looked up from his phone, gesturing over with one of his hands as he yelled, “Yo, Feli! Come here, my friends want to meet you!”

“Wait, what was his name?” Antonio asked softly, but his words weren’t heard.

The appearance of somebody new suddenly flopped heavily down on the couch right next to the albino. The person was smiling so brightly that his eyes were forced closed, his auburn hair falling messily into his face in a way that was impossibly charming. He started waving excitedly at the screen as he said with just the faintest accent, _“Ciao,_ I’m Feliciano! It’s nice to meet you guys!” 

The first thing Antonio thought was _cute,_ quickly followed by _oh shit, that looks like-_

“Lovino?” Francis muttered under his breath, apparently following the same thought process Antonio was.

“What was that?” Gilbert asked, although he seemed distracted by the sudden appearance of his brother who sat down on his other side. 

“Um, excuse me, but do you have a bro-” Francis was cut sharply off by an elbow in his ribs.

“It’s very nice to meet you!” Antonio said politely, sending a glare sharply to his side. 

Francis rubbed at his side with a betrayed pout, but he didn’t protest any further.

“Feli here is an art major, you should see some of the things he paints!” Gilbert gushed, clearly enamored with the way the smaller male giggled into his hand.

“I’m actually a graphic design major, but thanks.” Feliciano corrected gently.

Antonio was still reeling over the fact that he was apparently talking to Lovino’s younger brother — his younger brother who was dating Ludwig, which meant that they would be visiting in a few short weeks. It was a remarkable coincidence, fate even, and Antonio was having a difficult time forcing a coherent sentence out.

“So how did you two meet?” Francis suddenly asked, addressing Ludwig for the first time since the call began.

“Oh, well…” Ludwig blushed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Feliciano smiled widely, answering for the blond when he became too flustered to speak properly, “I couldn’t write in class because my arm was broken, so he took notes for me! He hardly spoke to me the whole time, so I thought that he hated me, but it turns out it was the exact opposite!”

“You don’t have to add that last thing.” Ludwig mumbled, although it was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

Feliciano giggled, “That’s the best part, though!” 

Antonio watched the two’s back and forth banter, completely dumbstruck. Lovino was defensive, vulgar, and he suppressed his emotions to the point where all he could express was anger. Feliciano, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. It was amazing for two people to look so similar (really, they could almost be twins) but be _so_ different in demeanor. Suddenly, he realized he could get some information, “Hey, what’s your last name?”

Feliciano forced his attention away from Ludwig, turning his head to the side curiously, “Oh, it’s Vargas. Why?”

 _Lovino Vargas._

Antonio smiled, “No reason, I was just curious.”

“Okay then!” Feliciano chirped, accepting the reasoning with ease.

Francis shot him a knowing look, but turned back to the phone, “So when are the three of you coming to visit?”

Gilbert was the one to answer this time, “Two and a half weeks! I’ve already got the plane tickets booked and everything, we’ll be there on the third.”

“Is that so?” Francis said contemplatively.

The blond was planning something, Antonio knew that look all too well. They needed to talk, and soon.

There was the sudden sound of a high pitched bell on the other end of the video call, and suddenly Feliciano was perking up, “Oh, that’s dinner!”

Gilbert perked up too, turning back to the phone with an apologetic smile, “Sorry guys, but I wouldn’t miss Feli’s cooking for the world.”

“That’s alright, we’ll see you in a few weeks.” Antonio said distractedly, itching to start doing some research on his phone.

“I’m looking forward to it, dudes. It’s gonna be awesome!” Gilbert shouted, making his brother flinch at the sheer volume.

Francis huffed, “You say that about everything.”

“Because _I’m_ awesome!” was the cheeky response.

Antonio laughed at the predictability of his friend — they’ve exchanged the same line of dialogue more times than he could count. He waved at the three on the screen, ending the call shortly thereafter.

Francis immediately rounded on him, “Why didn’t you say anything about Lovino?”

Antonio was already furiously tapping on his phone, mumbling distractedly, “How do you know they’re even related?” 

Francis scoffed, “There’s no way they aren’t brothers. Seriously, same accent, same face, same _everything!”_

Antonio sighed, knowing there was no way to keep this from his friend, “Look, I had a talk with Lovi one night and he said that he had some family issues. He’s not ready to go back, and I’m not going to betray him.”

“Does it even matter anymore?” Francis huffed, still rubbing absently at his ribs.

Antonio froze for just an instant before resuming in his internet search, not looking up when he said, “It matters.”

While he couldn’t see with his eyes glued to his phone, Antonio could practically feel the way Francis rolled his eyes. The blond sauntered closer, looking over his shoulder, “What are you doing?”

“Research.” Antonio answered shortly, scrolling through the search page hoping to find something, anything. He clicked on a link that looked promising, freezing with what popped up.

Francis quirked an eyebrow up, clearly surprised as well, “That’s… a lot of money.”

Antonio nodded dumbly, staring face to face with a picture of Lovino (scowl and all) on a _Missing Person_ advertisement — one with a twenty-thousand dollar reward, “Holy shit.”

“Indeed.” Francis remarked, taking a step back. He looked as conflicted as Antonio felt, his lip jutted out in thought, “What are you going to do?”

What was he going to do? Briefly Antonio remembered a worrisome remark Lovino made a couple weeks ago when he begged him not to call the police — _‘they’ll recognize me’_ he had said. That indicated that he knew there was a reward over his head, or at the very least that somebody (almost certainly his family) was looking for him. Part of Antonio felt honor-bound to turn him in, to tip the police off that he was in the area to ensure his safe return home and off the streets, but… 

“I promised that I wouldn’t go to the police.” Antonio said firmly, turning his phone off to shove it in his pocket.

Francis looked a bit disappointed, “That’s a lot of money.”

It was indeed, but Antonio couldn’t go back on his word, “Lovi’s not ready to go home, so I’m not going to make him. Besides…”

“We still don’t know where he is.” Francis finished softly for him, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I know it hurts, _mon ami,_ but if he never comes back then I think we should call the police.”

Antonio glared, “I already told you-”

“Nevermind the money, he could be in danger.” Francis cut him off firmly, letting his hand slide off his shoulder as he explained. “I know how you feel about it, but do you honestly think that those bruises were some kind of accident?”

Actually, Antonio knew for a fact that they weren’t the result of an accident — Lovino himself had said so. The blond had a point, but he was still hesitant to betray what little trust Lovino had entrusted him with, “Yeah, but a promise is still a promise.”

Francis sighed heavily, “You don’t know if you’ll ever see him again.”

“I know he’ll come back.” Antonio said hopefully, wondering how much he himself believed that.

Francis locked eyes with him, his gaze unwavering, “Think this through, you’re not protecting him by keeping your word. I’m not stupid, I know exactly what he does out there, and so do you.”

Antonio felt his defenses go up, “That’s not your business.”

“It became my business when you got too attached.” Francis shot back immediately, the sincerity in his voice undeniable.

“But…” Antonio trailed off, not too sure where to go from there. It wasn’t like his friend was wrong, he really had gotten attached over the course of a few short weeks. But something in him wouldn’t let him concede this point, so he held firm, “I won’t turn him in”

“If you don’t, then I will.” Francis said sharply, a hint of steel entering his voice. 

Antonio recoiled just the smallest bit at the tone he’d been met with, “Are you threatening me?”

“It’s not a kindness to deny a family their missing child.” Francis responded gently, letting his stern demeanor fall away into something softer, more agreeable.

Antonio glared, “He’s old enough to make that decision for himself, Lovino’s not a kid.”

“You’re not thinking clearly.” Francis pointed out, turning to gather his things behind the counter. He picked up his keys, running a hand through his hair before marching right past Antonio and towards the door. But right before he left, he looked over his shoulder and called, “If he’s not back in a week, then I’m calling the police. That’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”

Antonio wanted to glare, he wanted to jump to Lovino’s defense again, but some traitorous part of his mind whispered that Francis was right. It really wasn’t a kindness to leave somebody to flounder on the streets when they had a family who was searching for them. So instead, Antonio turned away with an irritated sigh, “Fine, just give it a week. He’ll come back, you’ll see.”

Francis’ expression softened, “For your sake, I hope he does.” And with that, the man was gone.

Antonio ran a hand through his hair, threading his fingers slowly through each strand as a calming gesture. He finished cleaning up for the night, turning to lock the door before hesitating. If Lovino did come back, then he didn’t want him to spend the night outside. It was cold, dangerous, and besides that, his beautiful ivy leaves had finally recovered after being crumpled by a certain foul-mouthed vagrant.

It probably wasn’t a great idea to leave his little store so vulnerable, but against his better judgement, Antonio left the door unlocked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we FINALLY have an appearance from our other favorite italian! 
> 
> Lol I hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you think! Also Francis is trying to be a good friend, he just comes off as such an asshole sometimes XD
> 
> Okie that's all I got, catch ya later!


	15. Chapter 15

On the fourth day since Lovino’s departure, Antonio had walked into his store with the wild hope that he would find that familiar figure curled up on the bench. He bounded to his store with a cautious type of optimism — optimism that was subsequently crushed the moment he stepped inside. With a sigh, he got to work, an ugly feeling growing and festering in his chest over the course of the entire day until it was all he could feel. It took him a while to recognize exactly what he was feeling, but after a few hours of stewing in misery, he realized that it was bitterness.

Antonio tried to squash the emotion, tried to bury it behind layers of apathy and glib comments, but still that horrible feeling linger. He couldn’t afford to let such dangerous emotions cloud his thoughts, his judgement, but he couldn’t turn it off. It filled him with dread and some level of self-hate — there was a reason his last relationship didn’t work out, and he’d be damned if he ever repeated _that_ horrible experience.

Still, Antonio was resentful that he’d been left without a proper goodbye or at least a reason _why,_ but beyond that he was beside himself with worry. He couldn’t quite forget the last time Lovino disappeared for an entire week, the way he had come back bruised and defeated. Who knew exactly what he was doing, what he was dealing with all alone on the streets.

By the fifth day, Antonio felt angry. He was angry that he’d been abandoned without a word, and with some trepidation he realized that he couldn’t quite dispel the inkling of possessiveness that sat coldly at the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t like he thought he _owned_ Lovino, but he did see himself as a bit of a protector, or at the very least he viewed himself as a buffer between his absent employee and the cruel world outside. The fact that he could do nothing but sit around to wait and see if Lovino would ever come back filled him with a petulant kind of anger that was childish at its core. 

At the very end of the sixth day, he just felt defeated. They were quickly approaching Francis’s one week limit before he called the police, and after that Antonio feared that Lovino would never speak to him again.

Antonio absently wiped down the counter, not fully aware of his actions as he continued to mindlessly clean. Francis had just departed, his face stony when he reminded Antonio of their little deal. Now all that was left was tense silence that permeated his little store, so intense that it seemed to dull his beautiful flowers. There wasn’t much left to clean, but still Antonio lingered — part of him hoping that his door would be kicked down and a certain Italian would be standing there ready to curse him out. But it was not to be, and with one last wistful look to the bench, Antonio flipped the lights off and walked away. 

He turned onto the chipped and faded street, not bothering to lock the door as he began his boring trudge home. His feet dragged the entire way, the soft scraping sound of shoes against concrete accompanying his dazed procession forward. He looked absently around, noting how the sun cast dark shadows that reached out like claws, threatening to drag any wayward soul down those narrow alleys where only trouble would live.

With a breathy chuckle, Antonio realized that _trouble_ was a very apt description for Lovino — he was pretty much trouble incarnate. Whether he was picking fights or causing a scene, the little Italian knew just the way to wreak havoc on anyone’s life.

Especially his. 

Antonio’s face went blank, finding that he once again had to forcibly expel some dangerous emotions that were welling up in his chest. He hated this part about himself, the part that took things too personally. Logically he knew that he wasn’t the reason that Lovino ran, but he still felt abandoned. They hadn’t even known each other for very long, so why did it hurt so bad?

Shaking his head to rid those thoughts, Antonio turned his gaze back down towards the cracked pavement. He needed a distraction, but he really wasn’t in the mood to go down to the bar. Besides drinking, there wasn’t much to do around here, and briefly he thought about running to the convenience store to grab a cheap bottle of whiskey… or maybe vodka — whatever got him the most drunk in the least amount of time.

Materializing slowly in the distance was his apartment building, and Antonio’s shoulders slumped when he realized that his window for turning towards the convenience store had already closed. His apartment building stretched towards the growing twilight sky, the side cast in an inky black that felt ominous in a way. Antonio looked back down to the pavement, counting the chips in the concrete as he walked. There were hardly any dandelions anymore, the weather having grown much too cold for them to grow. Despite that, he did spot a lone flower, browned and wilted as it curled up in its final death throes.

Antonio frowned, feeling a profound sadness for the dying little flower. He didn’t hesitate at all to bend down and pluck it from the pavement, intent on lying it on his window sill where it could bask in the sun one last time.

He idly twirled the flower delicately between his finger tips, not paying much attention to his surroundings as he walked. His building was directly in front of him, his gaze already fixed on the keypad where he would have to type in the number pin to unlock the door. He kept twisting the flower in his hand, the action somehow soothing his overwrought mind. Had he not been holding the flower, then he might have missed it, but as it was a strong gust of wind loosened his grip just enough to send that dandelion sailing back down towards the cold pavement below.

Grumbling wordlessly in annoyance, Antonio halted his steps and reached down to pick it up. He was relieved when he saw that the petals were undamaged, and as he stood back up he let his eyes drift lazily down the shaded side of the building. There was something out of place there, he noticed, and when he squinted to see against the darkness, Antonio found something that was blessedly familiar.

It was a small body, curled tightly up against the coarse brick, their head down to rest atop their knees. The person clearly hadn’t noticed him, and Antonio was too dumbstruck to properly register what he was seeing. 

The first thing he felt was denial, like who he was seeing was just some other homeless person who had chosen this building to rest against — but no! That was definitely the yellow sweater he had lent all those days ago, a little dirty, but definitely _his._ There was only one person this could be, and with some effort Antonio forced out a choked, “Lovi?”

The person’s — no, _Lovino’s_ — head whipped up at the strangled call, his eyes still impossibly bright despite the cool darkness that surrounded him. He had the collar of the sweater pulled up as far as it would go, his hands shoved towards his middle in a desperate attempt to ward off the biting chill as he shivered. The shadows made it difficult to see properly, but that shaky smile on his face was definitely there, “I couldn’t figure out the stupid code.”

Antonio shook his head in disbelief, shoving the flower into his pocket as he surged forward, “Oh my God, it’s you!”

Lovino shied away from the sudden approach, but his remarks were as sharp as ever, “Who else would it be, dumbass?”

“Where have you been? Are you okay? Oh _Dios,_ you’re probably freezing!” Antonio fretted as he dropped to his knees in front of the smaller. He wanted to reach out and properly assess him for injuries, but Lovino batted his hands away.

“Yes, I am freezing.” Lovino said shortly, another shiver ripping harshly through his frame as he asked softly, “Can we go inside?”

Antonio vehemently nodded, unable to feel anything but pure _relief_ at the moment. He stood and offered his hand, smiling when it was cautiously accepted before hauling the smaller up to stand next to him. He was quick to lead them inside, not even noticing that their hands never dropped the entire way. 

The warm rush of air that hit them when they stepped inside was enough to elicit a relieved sigh from both of them. Antonio turned with a smile, ready to scan over Lovino now that he was able to see with proper lighting. However, the smile he’d been wearing faded the moment he caught a glimpse of his small employee, “Lovi…” 

“Don’t stare, idiot.” Lovino mumbled, but there were already tears pooling in his eyes — one of those lovely hazels accented by a ring of sickly yellow. The bruising was in the same place as last time, around his eye, under his jaw, and his neck all bearing evidence of some kind of violent encounter. Not only that, but he looked exhausted, his slumped posture screamed defeat, and his hands were shaking in a way that wasn’t entirely from the cold.

Antonio felt his earlier relief melt away, whispering a bewildered, “What happened to you?”

Lovino bit at his lower lip, whatever confidence he had before completely gone, “Remember when I told you that I get into fights?”

“Yeah.” Antonio whispered, still completely frozen.

Lovino shrugged, not looking up when he said, “I lost.”

Antonio nodded in agreement, hoping that the damage wasn’t any worse than it appeared to be. He couldn’t bear to speak after that, not completely trusting his voice, so he led Lovino up and towards his apartment. They needed to talk about this, and the lobby of the building was not the most private setting.

Instead of protesting as he normally might have, Lovino allowed himself to be dragged swiftly along. Strangely enough, he seemed to be fighting tears the entire way, swiping viciously at his eyes as he tried to keep it together. Antonio ushered him quickly in when they reached his place of residence, turning to close the door behind him before looking back up. 

Lovino stood in the middle of the room, restlessly fidgeting with his hands as he resisted the urge to start swiping at his eyes again. He tried to keep a facade of anger up, but it was clear that something was wrong. Every once and a while, a shiver would visibly run through his body, causing his back to go rigid before relaxing once more. His eyes shifted from side to side, and he didn’t speak up even after Antonio directed him to sit on the couch.

They sat side by side on the plush cushions, although Lovino was quick to gather his knees up in front of him as he leaned into the arm of the couch. The seat was small, but not small enough that they were touching — still, Antonio lingered close. He wanted to reassure him physically (he was a tactile person by nature), but something told him that it wouldn’t go over well. So instead, he attempted to use his words, “Are you okay?”

Lovino choked on a bark of laughter, coughing in his hand before answering dryly, “Have you seen what I look like?”

“Okay, bad question.” Antonio mumbled under his breath, biting his bottom lip in thought. He peered up nervously, asking as softly as he dared, “What happened?”

Instead of bristling at the question like the way he normally would, Lovino averted his eyes and said in a painfully small voice, “A lot.”

Antonio only barely stopped himself from sighing loudly at the vague answer, instead keeping up his reassuring demeanor, “I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Who said I wanted your help?” was the biting retort.

“You did.” Antonio huffed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Lovino scoffed, “Idiot, no I didn’t.”

“Then why else would you be waiting for me?” Antonio asked pointedly.

Lovino opened his mouth to respond, but no words escaped his lips. He tried again, brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to come up with some sort of denial. With a soft grumble of irritation, Lovino gave up trying to fabricate some sort of shallow excuse, “Whatever.”

Antonio nodded sharply, “So, what’s wrong?”

Lovino pulled loosely at his fingers, turning to look fixedly at the ground. The silence persisted for a few seconds, but eventually he did give voice to what he was thinking, “I… I may have tracked down that asshole who stole my stuff.”

With a slow nod, Antonio shifted so they were facing each other more directly. Quite honestly, that’s exactly what he expected, but there was still a lot that was unclear, “Right, and I’m guessing you got into a fight?”

“Clearly.” he mumbled, sniffling softly as he brought a hand to swipe at his eyes once again. He still kept his head down, but at the very least he was talking, “I didn’t even start it this time.”

That was actually a bit of a surprise, and suddenly Antonio felt that inkling of possessiveness return. He didn’t like the thought of somebody he’d grown so attached to being treated in such a manner, and especially when he wasn’t around to do anything to stop it, “What did he want from you?”

Lovino’s shoulders scrunched up defensively at the tone, but he answered honestly, “What I owed him.”

“What did you owe?” Antonio tried (and failed) to say evenly.

“That’s none of your business.” Lovino muttered hollowly, wrapping his arms more firmly around his middle. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, although his fingers got caught by the tangles that had formed there after days of not brushing it. He sniffled again, voice growing shakier the longer he spoke, “I did what I had to, let’s leave it at that.”

Antonio pouted, refusing to do what was asked of him this time, “Actually, I don’t want to _leave it at that.”_

Lovino’s head whipped up, a confused glare overtaking his features, “Bastard, I’m not telling you what-”

“Lovi, you were gone for a _week.”_ Antonio huffed, crossing his arms firmly over his chest. “You can’t just leave without an explanation and then come crawling back without expecting me to ask questions.”

“Hey, I didn’t fucking _crawl_ back to you, idiot.” Lovino growled, some of that meekness being lost to anger. “I don’t owe you a fucking thing, so you can cut that bullshit out now.”

Antonio scoffed, “Who says I owe you anything either?”

“I never asked for your help.” Lovino said with a fierce glare. 

“Yet you accepted it.”Antonio retorted shortly.

“I didn’t want it.”

“But you’re still here.”

"That doesn't prove anything!" Lovino shouted now, clearly losing control of his temper.

Antonio did roll his eyes now, also slowly losing control of himself, "Actually, it does. I know you trust me, so why won't you admit it?"

"Who says I trust you?" Lovino retorted childishly.

Antonio grit his teeth, feeling like he'd just been slapped in the face, "Are you seriously going to act like those weeks you spent sleeping in my store didn't happen?"

Lovino’s entire back had gone rigid, his posture tensing further the more he worked himself up, “Like I had a fucking choice!” 

“You absolutely had a choice!” Antonio yelled this time, causing the smaller to flinch sharply back. “I had a choice too, and I chose _you!_ Don’t you get it yet, Lovino? It’s all because of you!”

“And I still don’t understand why!” Lovino shouted back, suddenly gasping in what was probably pain. “You’re the first person in this entire goddamn city to actually talk to me like a person, so yeah, maybe I got a little too attached. I used you, took advantage of your help, and yet you’re still acting so fucking nice, and I don’t get it!”

The fact that Lovino admitted to being too attached was some great twist of irony that left Antonio momentarily stunned. And here he thought that _he_ was the one that got too attached — never in his wildest dreams did he think that it would be a mutual problem. It actually felt kind of nice to know, but then the other parts of the accusation registered. Antonio shook his head, making a conscious effort to lower his voice, “Lovi, you didn’t use me. I offered to help because I think that you’re a good person, and-”

“I’m not a good person.” Lovino said with a manic chuckle. He had untangled himself from the corner of the couch, leaning forward with a frantic edge to his voice, “Christ, I almost killed my grandfather, I pretty much ruined my brother’s life, and I fucking sell sex to creeps just to earn a quick buck — I’m pretty sure I’m the definition of a bad person!”

While Antonio didn’t know about the first part, he did know that Feliciano was doing just fine. The last thing he mentioned, while it had been mentioned vaguely a few times, had never been explicitly said before. That’s what Lovino did though, he sold himself to other people. It tugged at something in Antonio’s chest, and suddenly he felt that possessive anger once more take him hostage, “Is that why you came back? Are you here to proposition me?”

The words were said coldly, callously, and suddenly Lovino’s breath caught in his throat, “What? Why would I do that?”

Even though every fiber of his being screamed not to, Antonio couldn’t stop from misdirecting his anger on the last person he wanted to, “Well, you’re not a good person, right? Why wouldn’t you?”

Lovino’s face flushed red, and he abruptly stood with clenched fists as he spat, “Is that really how you see me? I still have some goddamn self-respect, bastard!”

Antonio rolled his eyes — _no, don’t do that!_ — his voice devoid of emotion as he continued to dig in, “If you really respected yourself, then you’d give this shit up and go home.”

“Idiot, I already told you why I can’t!” Lovino hissed, tears once again welling up in his eyes.

“Yes, you can!” Antonio implored, now standing as well. He wasn’t completely aware of the fact that he was now towering over Lovino, too lost in his anger (read: worry) to realize that he was physically intimidating the smaller, “You would really sell your body instead of going home? Seriously? Are you really so ashamed of yourself?”

Lovino tensed up at the harsh accusation, tears now spilling down his cheeks, “Don’t you _dare_ judge me, I do what I have to, and-”

“Oh, because you _had_ to run away from home.” Antonio scoffed, ignoring the voice in his head that was begging him to stop. “You know, a lot of people would kill for a decent family to come home to, so maybe you should have a little perspective.”

“Perspective? You’re telling _me_ to have perspective?” Lovino snarled, taking a menacing step forward. “You don’t know what I’ve dealt with in my life, so you can fuck right off with that bullshit!”

“I don’t know because you won’t tell me!” Antonio shot back. “I’ve tried to help, but you shut everybody out!”

“What would you know?” Lovino hissed.

“I know that you won't talk me even after everything I’ve done to prove myself.”

“Oh, how kind and benevolent of you! Taking care of some poor homeless kid, you must feel so good about yourself!”

“Would a little appreciation really kill you?”

“It fucking might!”

“Lovino, I swear to-”

“What, am I getting on your nerves?”

“Actually, you are-”

“Oh, so the idiot does have a limit.”

“Lovi-”

“You’re so fucking dumb, why don’t you-”

“Shut up and listen to me!” Antonio cut him sharply off, sick of the pointless bickering. “Nothing is worth you getting _this_ hurt over! Do you understand, yet? Am I making sense? You are worth more than whatever money those creeps pay you!”

“Actually, there are things that are worth it!” Lovino growled.

“No, there aren’t!” Antonio shot back, stepping closer to actually hover over him. “Your health isn’t worth it, your happiness isn’t worth it, your family isn’t worth it-”

_“You’re_ worth it, you stupid asshole!” Lovino suddenly screeched, tangling his hands in the front of his shirt. “What the fuck do you think that note said? Why else would I just leave like that?” He pushed, causing Antonio to stumble backwards until his back hit the wall with a dull _thump._ “God, you’re so fucking dense — I left because of you! Do you get it yet, Antonio? Do I make sense now? It’s all because of you, idiot!” he shouted sarcastically, paraphrasing Antonio’s own words from earlier.

Antonio backed down when he heard how pained he sounded, and he could honestly say that he was more than a little surprised with how sincerely the words were delivered, “Wait, what-”

_“No!”_ he shouted, twisting his hands more harshly into his front. “You are going to stop fucking talking for _two goddamn minutes_ and let me get a word out, asshole!”

Antonio nodded, biting his bottom lip in an attempt to hold his tongue when the grip in his shirt was finally loosened. 

Lovino took in a deep, shuddering breath, tears making his voice crack as he growled, “That asshole who stole my stuff? Yeah, well he has _a lot_ of friends in high places. If I didn’t do what he wanted, then guess whose precious little store would be gone?”

Antonio’s breath caught in his throat at the implication, looking down in shame when he realized what was going on. Francis also mentioned that he’d been threatened, but only now was he realizing what that all entailed. He’d just assumed that Lovino went back to avoid going home, but that wasn’t it at all.

“Exactly.” Lovino hissed when there was no response, the fire in his eyes no less potent even though they were flooded by tears. “You’re too fucking nice, if I told you what was going on you would’ve tried to stop me.”

Well, that was a point Antonio could agree with. Even with this knowledge, he could honestly say that he would have still tried to stop him — and he wasn’t ashamed of that. What he was ashamed of, however, were the disgusting remarks he’d made to Lovino in his rage. He averted his eyes, not able to move away with those hands still tangled in his front.

Lovino sniffled, removing one of his hands to wipe away some tears. He stared intensely up, suddenly pushing Antonio harshly back into the wall, “Everything you worked for would have been gone. You’re worth it, you fucking asshole, I’m not.”

Antonio snapped his head up at that, disagreeing wholeheartedly, “That’s not true at all! Even if I was threatened, that doesn’t mean that you should give into blackmail. I don’t get it, why do you feel like you’re responsible for what happens to me?”

Instead of answering verbally, Lovino glared. The look was commonplace, but something about it was different this time. It was tinged with something that wasn’t anger, and before Antonio could properly place the emotion, Lovino was surging upwards to plant the most aggressive kiss he's ever had on his lips.

He gasped in surprise, but Lovino swallowed the sound with a growl. He pushed their lips together so harshly that Antonio’s head hit the back of the wall, hands twisted so tightly in his shirt that he was shocked that the fabric didn’t rip. Their mouths moved awkwardly together, not so much a kiss, he realized, but a dare to resist. 

But how could Antonio resist such an abrupt action? He was still entirely too shocked to move, eyes blown wide open as Lovino ripped himself away. He took a large step back, hissing with such vitriol that Antonio almost flinched, “Do you get it now, asshole?”

_Oh._

Yeah, he got it, but at what cost?

Lovino spun sharply on his heel without another word, marching swiftly down the hallway before turning into a room — which room exactly, Antonio had no idea. The resounding _bang_ of a door reverberated throughout the apartment, echoing shrilly against the walls.

Antonio jumped at the sound, the loud noise enough to break him partly out of his shocked stupor. He ran a delicate finger over his lips, feeling the way they throbbed from being so harshly pressed into. The pain brought him back completely from his daze, and without another thought he ran across his apartment and towards the hallway, finding that Lovino had closed himself off in his own room. 

He stepped right up to it, trying the door to find it (unsurprisingly) locked. With a loud groan, Antonio tried knocking, “Lovi, I’m sorry!”

“Fuck off!” was the muffled retort.

“Please open the door.” Antonio called, feeling tears come to his eyes when he finally understood just how thoroughly he fucked up. With a pang, he realized that this was how his last relationship ended — with him unable to think clearly due to misdirected jealousy. He was jealous that Lovino gave his time to such low-life characters instead of him, jealous that he wasn’t a priority.

Except, that he was a priority by Lovino’s own admission. His store, his livelihood was being protected, and Antonio had so cruelly and thoughtlessly stomped all over his efforts, misguided though they were. He still didn’t know what exactly Lovino did while he was away, or why it took him six days to return, but now he may have lost the privilege to know.

“Dammit.” Antonio muttered under his breath, pressing his back into the door. He slid slowly down until he was seated properly on the ground, curling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin atop them. Lovino would have to come out eventually, and Antonio intended to wait all night if he needed to. 

With a sigh, he attempted to make himself comfortable. He ran his fingers over his lips again, hating that their first kiss was so spiteful and full of resent. Antonio knew that the action was a statement, and the point was made loud and clear:

He fucked up, and now he was going to have to work just to earn the right to make it up to Lovino — one of the most stubborn people he’s ever met. 

God help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That... escalated quickly lol
> 
> Ya done fucked up, Toni. Good luck with that hole you dug yourself into XD
> 
> In related news:
> 
> GUYS A LOVELY SOUL HAS MADE FANART FOR THIS FIC! I have the link for the tumblr post here, and it would mean a lot for y'all to go over and repost, or like, or whatever (I don't have a tumblr, idk how it works lol) because it's just a GORGEOUS work of art!
> 
> https://sator-the-wanderess.tumblr.com/post/627171525336973312
> 
> Seriously, this is so awesome, and I really hope you check out this talented artist! Pls give them their due praise, because this is seriously so amazing!
> 
> Ugh, now I'm having feelings again XD 
> 
> Let me know what you think of the chapter, I know it was suuuuper long and a bit all over the place haha. 
> 
> Love y'all, thanks so much for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Lovino was freaking out.

No, he wasn’t being dramatic by curling up on the floor in front of the locked door, this was a completely reasonable response. He had one hand clapped firmly over his mouth, the other still desperately trying to wipe away the tears that cascaded down his cheeks. Lovino couldn’t even see past the blurriness anymore, the room he was in too watery to properly make out. 

He was on the verge of panic, his mind a muddled mess of _oh my god, I can’t believe I did that. Oh shit, oh fuck, what was I thinking?_ and other appropriate thoughts because _holy shit, I just kissed Antonio!_

Lovino’s heart was about to explode, the sound of swift footsteps causing him to tense up further. The sudden jiggle of a doorknob followed by a sharp knock made him physically flinch away, the realization that he was trapped slowly sinking in.

“Lovi, I’m sorry!” came a muffled shout. 

Even if Lovino was still mentally panicking, he was able to remove his hand from his mouth long enough to yell back, “Fuck off!”

“Please open the door.” Antonio begged, sounding close to tears. 

Lovino didn’t answer, instead having to muffle another pained sob that threatened to break free. He didn’t want anybody, and least of all Antonio, to hear just how hurt he was. He hadn’t meant to confess in such a manner — or at all, quite honestly — but he’d never been known for his stellar sense of restraint. It was dangerous for him to feel this way about anyone, and especially in his line of work, but the ailments of the heart are not so easily ignored.

Truth be told, Lovino had been suppressing this for a while, but Antonio hadn’t noticed even once (bless his oblivious nature). Lovino knew that he’d grown too attached, too dependent, and he should have left for good when he had the chance. The only thing was, the longer he was away from that stupid little store, the more desperately he wanted to be back. It seemed to be the only safe place he could go, Antonio the only genuine person with a genuine smile and genuine kindness in the entire city. Really, how could Lovino not develop a crush? He had no self-control, and now it seemed he was reaping the consequences of this troublesome attachment.

“I’m sorry, will you please open the door?” Antonio’s muffled voice pleaded.

He was once again ignored. Instead, Lovino decided to clean himself up enough to look around and see just whose room he locked himself in. He scrubbed at his eyes, blinking away the lazy tears that still fell just enough to make out his surroundings. Lovino pushed himself up on his elbow, hissing in pain at the action. His ribs were bruised pretty terribly, the memory of what he’d done almost enough to send him into another pathetic crying fit.

But he held off, instead forcing his body into an upright position. He looked ahead, noticing for the first time that there was a bed pushed against the wall in the middle of the room. A fluffy navy blue duvet sat in a tangled heap at the foot of it, the pillow having fallen clumsily on the floor. There were clothes strewn haphazardly across the dull, grey carpeting, and most of the dresser drawers were still thrown wide open. 

Lovino almost felt the urge to laugh at the chaotic scene, somehow finding that Antonio was the messy type to be completely fitting for his ditzy personality. However, his mood was much too dour for that laughter to be more than a fleeting thought, so instead he just stared absently ahead.

It was dark in the room, the only real lighting filtering in from the crack under the door. Lovino looked over his shoulder when he saw a shadow dance, seeing how it twisted under the door. Antonio was undoubtedly sitting right outside, most likely intent on waiting for him to come out. That was fine, Lovino could be patient. 

He cast his gaze around the shaded bedroom, spotting a lamp on the nightstand. Honestly, Lovino had no idea why he closed himself off even deeper in the apartment instead of just storming out the front door. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been thinking clearly, or it could be that it was too damn cold outside to function, or maybe part of him wanted Antonio to make it up to him. Whatever the case, he was trapped now, so he might as well make himself comfortable. 

With a silent prayer for strength, Lovino hauled himself up to a standing position. His vision swam with sparks and black spots for a moment, and he was unable to help a short gasp of pain. He groaned, hiking up his shirt to assess the damage. Lovino bit his bottom lip to keep from crying again, poking at his sickly yellow midsection to make sure the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked. He’d been roughed up quite badly this time around, but the pain was bearable.

Antonio must have heard the groan because he was suddenly asking, “Lovi? Are you okay?”

Lovino still adamantly refused to answer, instead shoving his shirt petulantly down. To think that he went out of his way to _protect_ this oblivious idiot nearly had him growling wordlessly to himself. He didn’t regret it, but Antonio had made some pretty disgusting insinuations about him that he wasn’t quite ready to forgive yet. 

There were still tears dripping steadily off his chin, but Lovino didn’t make a sound. He wiped the moisture violently away, stumbling clumsily in the dark towards the lamp he spotted earlier. Once there, he flipped it on, looking around the room with renewed intrigue. He himself had grown up with a literal silver spoon in his mouth, and even if he’d spent the better part of the year out on the streets, looking around at what had to be middle-class accommodations was fascinating. 

The muted cream walls were bare, no picture frames anywhere to be seen. The window on the far wall had beige curtains drawn, although they were open just enough to allow a sliver of sunlight in when morning finally came. But right now, moonlight shone in the small room, although it was drowned out by the warm yellow lamp.

Lovino shook his head to cease in his restless inspection of what could only be Antonio’s bedroom. He put his hand over the bed, feeling how soft it was before sitting down curiously. The moment he rested his weight down on the bed, it creaked loudly in protest. Lovino cringed at the sound, thinking that this old spring mattress needed to be replaced _yesterday._

Again, the sound must have been heard (damn, he needed to learn how to be more quiet), and Antonio’s dejected voice once more filtered through, “Can we please talk about this, Lovi? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to judge you like that!”

Lovino scoffed, he couldn’t help responding this time, “You should have thought about that _before_ you said all that bullshit about me!”

Antonio groaned, a dull thump indicating that he’d probably thrown his head back into the door, “I was just worried.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell!” Lovino almost shouted, feeling more than hearing the way the bed creaked underneath him as he leaned forward. “I was under the assumption that you thought I was here to _proposition_ you. Is that what you want? You want another kiss? Or how about I give you a free blowjob? Would that make you happy, you fucking asshole?” he snarled the last part, his voice cracking at the end.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant!” Antonio implored, his voice dangerously wobbly.

Lovino shook his head to himself, ignoring his better judgement in favor of flopping heavily down on the bed. It squealed under his weight, but he ignored the sound to instead curl tightly up on his side and begin crying anew. He hated crying, hated being weak, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so personally betrayed. 

He gripped the sheets underneath him, feeling every wall he had so carefully constructed crumble around him. Lovino had rules, a lot of them actually, that he followed in order to avoid situations like this. Unfortunately, he was weak-willed, and he had broken far too many of them over the course of a few weeks.

One of the biggest rules he’d broken only recently, and it was to protect that stupid little flower shop he’d grown so fond of. Lovino choked on his own breath at the memory, feeling defeated, and dejected, and depressed, and probably some other words that start with ‘d’ that expressed his malcontent. 

The man Lovino had gone back to was actually a local politician, and a popular one at that. The man — Charles Price — held a high office, and it would have been literally nothing to close Antonio’s store down. In addition to being popular, the man was ridiculously wealthy and had paid well. What started as a one time thing turned into regular meetings, and it was with Price’s money alone that Lovino had almost earned his way off the streets. 

But the thing was, Price was about as possessive as they come. Lovino had rules about the types of services he provided, and he made clear to his clients that they were to keep their hands to themselves. He’d offer his mouth, or his hand, but _never_ his body. Unfortunately, Price sought his body from day one, their encounters growing increasingly violent until Lovino just fled… right into Antonio’s awaiting arms. He glared at the mattress, hating that every precaution he’d taken to avoid getting hurt had so completely and spectacularly blown up in his face. 

The sudden shift of someone outside made him go rigid before he remembered that he locked the door. Antonio must have moved to face it more directly because his voice didn’t sound so muffled despite the soft words he suddenly spoke, “Listen, I know I really hurt you, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness. You were protecting me and my store, and I completely invalidated your efforts.”

 _Damn right._ Lovino mentally agreed, nodding absently as he sniffled on the bed. 

Outside, Antonio continued his resigned apology, “I still don’t know exactly what you did, but I know that it must have been a really hard decision to make.”

Once again, Lovino nodded in agreement. Briefly he wondered if he would have made that decision a second time around now that he knew just how ravaged his mind, body, and heart would become as a result. He quickly deduced that he would definitely make the decision again in a heartbeat. Damn this stupid Spaniard and his stupid store.

Antonio made a disgruntled sound at the back of his throat, clearly struggling with himself for a moment before asking, “Do you see that picture that’s on my dresser?”

Lovino furrowed his brow in curiosity, wondering what exactly Antonio was getting at. He didn’t want to give into that curiosity out of sheer spite, but in the end he pushed himself up and glanced at the top of the dresser. There he did see a picture, although it wasn’t in a frame. He couldn’t make out any details, but he did note how the edge of it was crumpled. 

“That’s me and my old girlfriend.”

Lovino whipped his head towards the door, his heart pounding madly in his chest. He felt like crying all over again when he realized that he may have just kissed a straight man. Now he just felt foolish, gripping the place over his chest where he could feel his heart break for the second time that night. 

“I loved her.” Antonio said simply, completely unaware of Lovino’s growing anguish. “It was my second year of university, and I was convinced I was going to marry her. We talked about it a lot, actually — where the venue would be, how many children we wanted, what flowers to plant in our garden…” he trailed off wistfully.

The bitter edge to his tone didn’t go unnoticed by Lovino, and he started shaking his head with the desperate hope that Antonio would just stop talking. He didn’t want to hear about how stupid he was for ever believing that he’d have a shot, and especially with someone who would never look twice. 

“Everything was going fine. I met her parents, we moved in together, but then-” he cleared his throat, apparently struggling with himself before continuing, “But then I messed up.”

Even though Lovino was still agonizing over the fact that he’d acted like a fool, a part of him was curious. He was still sitting on the bed, waiting with bated breath for the continuation as he made a conscious effort not to burst into tears. 

Antonio was apparently having a difficult time coming up with the right words to say, making little grunts of frustration as he aborted various attempts to speak. Eventually he sighed loudly in irritation, seemingly changing the subject entirely, “I never planned on opening up a business after school, and definitely not a _flower_ shop of all things.” He laughed like the notion itself was completely absurd. 

Lovino didn’t react outwardly, but inside he was begging for Antonio to get on with it. The sooner this conversation was over, the sooner he could collapse in on himself and break down. He needed to expunge his emotions before he could become aloof, otherwise he feared another outburst.

“When Emma and I were dating, she told me that she loved flowers.” Antonio mumbled, the words almost inaudible. “I was never too interested in plants, but she just adored them so I guess I started liking them too by association.”

Something like realization dawned on Lovino, and all of a sudden he felt like shrinking away again. Of course Antonio had opened up a flower shop for a girl he was probably still in love with. He probably thought about her every time he walked into work, every time he greeted Lovino in the morning. Maybe that’s why he had a fixation with dandelions, maybe they reminded him of her or something. Lovino bit at his bottom lip at the thought, trying to shake away the pain that hollowed out his chest. 

Still completely clueless to Lovino’s rapid state of decline, Antonio kept on talking, “She thought that roses were the prettiest, and asked for them on holidays and stuff. I didn’t have a lot of money at the time, and roses aren’t cheap.” he bit out a humorless chuckle, audibly shifting against the carpet directly in front of the door. “I wanted to make her happy though, so I made a hundred or so paper roses.”

Through the pain of rejection and the sting of heartbreak, Lovino felt just a tad bit amused. The gesture was so sweet, and so undeniably _Antonio_ — it would probably have Lovino swooning if anyone ever did something so thoughtful for him (he was a closet romantic, sue him).

“It took forever, and if the paper hadn’t been red then you probably could have seen my blood on those stupid flowers.” Antonio huffed, his tone taking on a bitter edge. “She loved them, and it made me so happy.”

The biting tone didn’t match his words, and Lovino was wondering if this is where the breakup happened. He smiled just the smallest bit, not feeling guilty in the slightest bit for finding amusement in the thought.

Antonio grumbled something to himself, raising his voice to say clearly, “A couple days after I gave them to her, I started seeing people around campus wearing paper roses. _My_ paper roses.”

Lovino almost cringed at how coldly the words were delivered, but Antonio seemed more irritated with himself for some reason. Now fully engrossed in the story, Lovino finally raised his voice, “She betrayed you?”

“She might have, I’ll never know.” Antonio grumbled bitterly, once again shifting against the door. “I took it way too personally, I thought that she rejected me by giving away something I worked so hard on.”

“She shouldn’t have done that.” Lovino instantly replied, his face twisted in anger. It was thoughtless to just reject someone’s affection so openly, so carelessly, and even if Lovino was hurt, he still felt impossibly attached to the oblivious Spaniard. The feeling might have been considered loyalty had it been anyone else, but Lovino didn’t think he was capable of such a virtue — not after what he did to his own family. 

Antonio sighed, his voice detached as he further explained, “Whether she should have done it or not is irrelevant, my reaction was completely unjustified.”

Lovino kicked his legs over the bed, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. He ambled his way towards the dresser, intent on scrutinizing the crumpled photo there — he wanted to see the woman who had made Antonio sound so melancholy, so dejected.

“I confronted her about it, but she just shrugged me off. She said that they were just pieces of paper, and that really hurt more than anything. I started yelling, I called her some pretty awful names.” Antonio sniffled, having to take a break for just a moment.

During the pause, Lovino picked up the photo and brought it up closer to his face. There were two people, one of them was Antonio — there was no mistaking that dopey grin and awkward posture, even if he looked just a bit younger. The other girl was a blond with bobbed hair, wearing a bubblegum pink dress with white spots. She was also smiling, neither of them actually touching each other, but lingering so close that they may as well have been. 

“I accused her of betraying me, I said that she cheated on me even though she never would have done something like that.” 

The longer Lovino looked at the picture, the more resigned he felt. Antonio looked good with a woman at his side, the picture somehow looking complete with the two of them. Maybe it was best to let go now, even though his hands shook at the thought.

“I kept accusing her of stupid things like that, I really don’t know what made me say those things. I had quite the temper back then, even worse than yours.” Antonio huffed, something like amusement coloring his tone.

 _Yeah, fat chance._ Lovino cracked the smallest of smiles, rolling his eyes fondly.

“Long story short, she left me.” the amusement was gone from his voice, bitterness once more the most apparent emotion. “It was over text too, she said that I was a jealous asshole and that she never wanted to see me again — she transferred universities to make sure of that, and that’s the last I ever saw of her.”

Lovino put the picture back down in silence, twisting his hands awkwardly in front of him. He was pleased to note that he’d stopped crying entirely, although his eyes stung so they were probably embarrassingly red-rimmed. He didn’t know if Antonio expected him to speak up now, but any other thought was subsequently banished from his mind at the next words:

“It might have been subconscious, but I opened my store for her.”

Lovino’s heart dropped again, somehow just _knowing_ that would be the reason he opened that little store. He mentally cursed himself for feeling so heartbroken — they were never even _friends,_ they hadn’t even known each other for very long!

So why did it hurt so bad?

“Some stupid part of me thought she would come back, but she never did.” Antonio scoffed to himself, apparently at his own naivety. “I hated flowers for a while because all I could think about was her, but I kept the store open.”

The dejection was melting away, and Lovino was starting to feel petulant anger. Jealousy was probably an apt description, and the way that Antonio just kept going on about this woman was finally enough to make him snap out a harsh, “Why?”

Antonio hummed in thought, clicking his tongue once before answering in a shockingly cheerful voice, “You’ll probably laugh at me, but there were these kids outside picking dandelions from the concrete and they were giving them to strangers as they passed by. One of them saw me outside my store and gave me a flower, and I don’t know why, but that changed my entire perspective.”

Lovino’s body relaxed, some of the tension forgotten at the surprisingly innocent reason. He shuffled closer to the door, his feet moving without his permission, “I thought you liked them because they reminded you of the sun.”

“Well, yeah.” Antonio hummed, trying to explain himself a bit better. “I love that shade of yellow, too. Everything about them is just happy, and the way those kids smiled when somebody accepted the flower just made sense to me.” Antonio sighed, sounding content for the first time. “Flowers stopped being _hers_ and they became mine instead. I love how happy they make people, I love how a weed can make people smile. Honestly, it changed my life — pretty dumb, right?”

Lovino shook his head even though he knew that Antonio couldn’t see him. He was now directly in front of the door and he laid a single hand delicately over it, “No, that’s…” _sweet._ He couldn’t get the word out, so he let the sentence hang.

“I scared Emma away from me because I couldn’t control myself.” Antonio summarized shortly, suddenly irritated again. “It was one of the worst things I’ve ever gone through, and now I almost scared you away in the same way, I-” he choked on his words, unable to finish.

But Lovino wanted to know why the thought upset him so much, daring to feel just a flicker of hope, “What are you saying?”

A hollow bang indicated that Antonio had once again let his head fall against the dark wood, staying silent for only a handful of seconds longer before answering, “I think that I like you, Lovino. I mean, I think I _really_ like you. Probably since the first time I saw you, I don’t know. It just happened, and I’m still confused, but I can’t stand the thought of losing you like I lost her.”

Lovino’s breath hitched in his throat, unable or unwilling to believe what he was just told. He couldn’t bear to be let down again, especially now when his life was officially at its lowest. Lovino shook his head, one of his hands still rested on the door, “Bastard, we’re not even friends.”

“Says you.” Antonio shot back. “I’m not exactly sure what I feel, but I know that I like having you around. I mean, sure you’re terrible at cleaning, and we need to work on your language-”

“Gee, thanks.”

“-but even if you think you’re a bad person, I don’t. I want to get to know you, and even if you never tell me another thing about yourself or your life, I’d be happy with just your company.” he finished firmly.

Lovino was momentarily stunned by the sincere words, but most of him felt betrayed and more than a little hurt. He couldn’t completely forget the fight they just had, the things that were said at his expense. Lovino scowled at the door, taking a half step back, “Even though I sell sex to other people? You still want to be around someone like me?”

Antonio groaned loudly, “I didn’t mean to judge you, I was just jealous.”

“Jealous?” 

“Yeah, I was jealous that you’d give piece of shit men the time of day and not me.” he very nearly growled.

“Idiot, I _always_ gave you the time of day! How often do you think I come back to the same place, let alone sleep in some stranger’s store?” Lovino glared at the dark wood in front of him, hoping to burn it down with the intensity of his stare alone. “Besides, it’s none of your damn business, anyway.”

“I want it to be.” Antonio breathed, although it was just loud enough to be heard through the door. “I’m going to be honest, the thought of you sleeping around makes me really uncomfortable. I think that you deserve better than that, and whenever you come back to me all beat up, it hurts. I don’t like that you keep going back to people who hurt you like that, but more than anything, I _hate_ that I was the person that hurt you this time.”

The amount of self-loathing in that last statement was almost enough for Lovino to pull the door open and demand the Spaniard to go back to his usual cheerful demeanor. But he didn’t, still not completely convinced that it was a good idea.

Antonio shifted again, those shadows dancing under the door as he moved, “I still think you’re a good person regardless of what you’ve done. I just wish you didn’t have to live like that, or feel like you need to suppress your emotions — it’s really not healthy, you know.”

Well, Lovino supposed Antonio had a bit of a point there. He suppressed his emotions until it became too much, and he had the unfortunate habit of breaking down at the most inopportune times and places (for example, on the shoulder of some ditzy-ass florist). That didn’t mean that Lovino was going to stop doing that any time soon, but maybe he should find healthier ways to cope with his own pitiful existence. 

“I’ve destroyed one relationship because of my stupid temper, and even though I’m not the same person I was in college, I really don’t want to repeat that mistake.” Antonio said with resolve, although part of him still sounded dejected. 

Lovino deflated, now leaning his forehead against the door. At the end of the day, it was partly his fault that the argument got so out of hand — after all, it took two to tango. Beyond that, he had the unfortunate tendency to escalate situations without fully intending to, and usually it was a result of suppressing his own emotions until all he could feel was anger. It was a vicious cycle, one that Lovino had tried (and failed) to break until it ultimately blew up in his face at the cost of his own family. 

His shoulders slumped, most of his resolve now entirely broken. Lovino felt something flutter in his chest when he remembered that Antonio just admitted to liking him, although he didn’t dare let that flicker of hope grow. It was too early, and he was still much too volatile to even consider the implications of their mutual feelings. So instead, he let his eyes drift closed and asked, “What do you want from me?”

“You can start by opening the door.” Antonio mumbled, his voice resigned like he didn’t expect the request to be followed.

Except, Lovino felt compelled to do exactly that. Maybe it was time he finally opened up, and depending on the reaction he received, he could decide to leave once and for all or… or maybe stay.

Lovino shook his head, not willing to linger on such a dangerous idea. Instead he laid his hand on the doorknob, unlocking the door as silently as he could. He was certain that Antonio didn’t hear the soft click, and one more time he thought of what he was doing.

He hesitated, removing his hand from the doorknob. Antonio really had said some pretty nasty things to him, although it wasn’t the worst he’s ever heard by far. Still, it was _because_ it was Antonio that it hurt so bad. Lovino had been harboring feelings for him for literal weeks, the betrayal he felt still agonizingly fresh. 

To share something about himself, explain why he acted the way he did was almost like giving away a part of himself. It made him vulnerable, a feeling he absolutely loathed. He couldn’t open up to people, it just wasn’t in his nature. Lovino himself was like a door with no key, no way to get in. It was a matter of protection, of resilience, but what else was he to do? Keep offering himself up on the streets until somebody finally takes it too far and kills him? Before, Lovino had made peace with that possibility, but now…

Lovino wanted to explain himself, wanted to make things right between them. He was sick of relying on sick perverts for an income, the thought of working in that warm little store filling him with such contentment that he very nearly smiled. It might be difficult, but Lovino wasn’t anything if not stubborn. He could do this now and decide what to do later, but right now all he had to do was open the door. 

So he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooooolllyyy crap dudes, this chapter got really out of hand XD
> 
> So I am officially out of pre-written content, which means that everything from here on out is a bit of a wild card lol. I know how this is going to end and some of the things in between, but I'm still torn on some ideas. Not that it really matters, but I won't be able to crank these chapters out as quickly anymore, so sorry :/
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you liked this chapter! Antonio finally tells a bit of his past, did it surprise anybody? Lmao also Lovi's point of view is always a joy to write. First time in this fic, I hope it explained a bit of his actions. Also I LIVE for 2 things now - short Lovino and closet romantic Lovino... like you can't tell that dork doesn't love gross romantic crap like come ON.
> 
> Oof now I'm rambling, sorry. Let me know what you think, this chapter was long af haha. Love you guys, thanks so much for reading!!


	17. Chapter 17

When Antonio all but begged Lovino to open the door, the very last thing he expected was for his plea to be answered. He was leaning against the wooden entrance, knees pulled tightly to his chest as he stared at a fixed point on the faded carpet. Lovino hadn’t said a word for a few minutes now, and Antonio was steadily losing hope that they’d ever be on speaking terms again. In fact, he was just about to launch into another attempt to apologize when a sudden shift behind him caused his stomach to drop.

Antonio’s fixed stare was ripped away from the floor as he pitched backwards, not able to so much as squeak in surprise when his back hit the ground. He stared up at the ceiling in a daze, trying to figure out what happened when Lovino’s scowling face suddenly crowded his field of vision.

“Idiot, what are you doing?” he huffed.

It took a moment or two before Antonio realized a few things at once: first, Lovino opened the door. Second, he wasn’t screaming or trying to murder him. Third, this was his chance to make things right. Fourth, _get up, this is my chance to make things right!_

Without another thought, Antonio flipped onto his front and kicked his legs under him before quite literally jumping up. He stood in front of Lovino, mouth opening and closing a few times. He fought to get his words out, stumbling clumsily over his own tongue in his nervous excitement, “You’re here! I mean, out! Like, out here… with me! And you opened the door!”

Lovino flinched back at the sudden noise, “And I’ll close it if you keep shouting at me.”

Antonio nodded, quickly making the conscious effort to lower his voice, “Oh, sorry. I’m just…” he trailed off for a moment, reigning in his momentary burst of energy to say softly, “I’m just really glad you opened the door.”

Lovino bit at his lower lip, averting his eyes, “Can we talk? I mean, actually talk and not yell at each other?”

“Of course, we can sit on the couch.” Antonio said with an eager nod. He tried to catch Lovino’s painfully red-rimmed eyes, but found he couldn’t force their gazes to meet. The little Italian looked resolute, like he had come to some kind of conclusion.

Antonio led them nervously back out into the living room, to the place where this whole debacle had started. Just like before, Lovino instantly curled up in the corner of the couch with his knees hugged close to his chest. Antonio sat close by, tapping his foot restlessly on the ground as he awaited some sort of explanation. 

Lovino ran a shaky hand through his hair, clearly struggling with himself. The awful bruising around his eye seemed much starker now that his cheeks were blotchy from tears, even those mottled marks on his neck sticking out with much more ferocity than before. His hair was a tangled mess, his posture slumped. He looked remarkably like the shivering, homeless kid Antonio had first seen outside his store, all that progress they made seemingly forgotten. 

The silence stretched on a while longer, Lovino casting his nervous gaze restlessly around the room. He shook his head to himself, like he was debating what to say. His brow furrowed ever so slightly, nearly whispering when he said, “This sort of thing… it’s not easy for me.”

Antonio nodded, hardly daring to breathe for the tension he felt.

“I don’t talk about girly things like my _feelings_ or whatever.” Lovino growled, spitting the word _feelings_ out like it burned his tongue.

“That’s not girly, Lovi.” Antonio breathed, leaning forward in anticipation.

Lovino shrugged, still not looking up when he said, “You were right when you said that I bottle things up. Trust me, I’m well aware of it.” He shifted minutely in his spot, looking off to the side with a slight blush coloring his cheeks, “You told me about your past, so I-I guess I owe you a little bit of an explanation, too.”

“You don’t _owe_ me anything, Lovi. I only want to know what you’re comfortable telling me.” Antonio said firmly, feeling that he’d lost his privilege to know anything about the small Italian in front of him.

Lovino sighed, finally snapping his eyes upwards to lock their gazes. Just like last time, Antonio’s breath hitched in his throat at the smoldering intensity. The fire in those shimmering golden irises set him ablaze, overwhelming him as sparks of heat ignited something in his chest. It was disgustingly cliché, but Antonio loved every moment of it.

Unfortunately, the moment was short-lived. 

Lovino blinked, and the spell was gone. He shook his head free of whatever daze he was caught in, clearing his throat before saying, “Like I said, I’m not good at this, but I’ll try.”

Antonio nodded, “Take your time.”

There was only one more moment of hesitation before Lovino said in a shockingly blunt manner, “I hate myself.”

Antonio’s breath hitched in his throat again, this time for a completely different reason, “Lovi-”

“I’ve never done anything right in my life.” Lovino cut him off, perhaps fearing he wouldn’t be able to go on if he was interrupted. “I sucked at school, I can’t hold a job, and I treated my family like fucking shit.” he laughed sardonically, pain coloring every one of the words he spoke. “I never realized what a shitty person I really was until I already alienated myself from the only people who gave a damn about me. For some reason, I never thought that _I_ was the problem, I just assumed the world was out to get me.” 

Antonio nodded, thinking that he could sort of relate to that. It had taken a rather nasty breakup for him to be able to see his own faults and fix them — honestly, that was still a work in progress, and it might always be.

“My brother, on the other hand, is perfect.” Lovino spat the last word out like an insult, even if his voice still sounded pained. “He’s friendly, kind, creative, honest, likable… really everything that I’m not.”

Antonio shook his head, “I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit, Lovi.”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Everyone knows it’s true, including my grandfather. Feli was always his favorite. Honestly, most of the time I’m just an afterthought — they probably don’t even miss me...” his voice had grown soft by the end, eyes swimming with tears.

He sounded so heartbroken, so morose that Antonio very nearly reached out to wipe those tears away. He was just able to stop himself, instead ready to offer words of comfort when Lovino cut the attempt off:

“The night I ran away I-” he cleared his throat, coughing to rid the shakiness there before continuing, “I almost killed my grandfather.”

“What do you mean?” Antonio breathed.

Lovino managed a humorless chuckle, “Exactly what I said. My brother got accepted into this really nice university, and I guess it just hit me how fucking useless I was. I mean, he’s a year younger than me, but his future is so much brighter.” he paused, looking meekly down to his fidgeting hands before continuing. “I called him worthless, stupid, spoiled, a bunch of other really childish insults. I called him everything that I felt about myself.”

Antonio nodded softly, silently urging Lovino to continue as he digested the new information.

After a beat, Lovino carried on, “Feli yelled back a little, but he’s not the argumentative type. It would have been a normal fight between us, but I took it too far.”

Antonio had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, leaning forward so he was sure not to miss a word.

“I pushed him into the wall and told him he shouldn’t be alive, that I didn’t _want_ him to be alive.” Lovino scoffed to himself, rubbing away the sudden tears in his eyes. His voice was rising in pitch the longer he talked, his emotions finally catching up with him. “I didn’t believe that even back then, I love my little brother. It wasn’t fair to him, it wasn’t his fault what happened.”

“What happened?” Antonio prodded softly.

Lovino sniffled, wrapping his arms more firmly around his middle, “There were… complications when Feli was born. The doctor could only save one of them — the mother or the baby.”

Antonio’s heart stuttered in his chest, unable to imagine such a dilemma, “Oh, that’s…”

“Awful, yes I know.” Lovino grumbled softly. “Clearly they chose my brother, but I _never_ blamed him for it. Hell, I was only one when it happened, I don’t even remember the woman.”

“What about your father?” Antonio asked curiously.

Lovino huffed, some of his grief lost to annoyance, “He fell apart after our mom died. Couldn’t handle the pressure of being a single father or some bullshit. On top of that, he couldn’t even stand the sight of Feli — I think he blamed my brother for what happened. We pretty much lived at our grandpa’s at the time anyway, but it wasn’t until I was like nine that we officially moved in with him.”

Antonio nodded, satiated with that new bit of knowledge, “Does your brother know about all this?”

“Of course he knows, the fucking piece of shit made sure to tell him right before he walked out.” Lovino growled, clearly still upset about it. “It messed with my brother, really fucking hurt him. Me and grandpa worked really hard to make sure he didn’t blame himself, but I just _had_ to rub it in his face.”

Antonio cringed away at the self-hatred in his voice, wanting to hear the full story, but afraid of how much worse it gets.

Lovino sighed heavily, shifting so he was seated more comfortably on the plush cushions. His eyes looked painfully red, dark splotches on his face coupled with the pale bruising making him look positively tortured. He ran a hand through his hair, saying in a voice dripping with shame, “I told him that he killed our mother and that he was the reason we didn’t have a dad either. I fucking screamed at him, I made him cry. I asked if he wanted to kill me next. Jesus, I told him that I never wanted a brother.”

“Did you believe any of that?” Antonio pushed, already knowing the answer.

Lovino’s eyes snapped up, wide and swimming with regret. He shook his head vehemently back and forth, nearly pleading when he said, “No, I’ve never regretted having a brother. I-I don’t know why I said it, it was a lie. I just wanted him to feel as bad as I did because I’m a piece of fucking garbage. I promise, I really didn’t mean it!”

Antonio put his hands up in a placating gesture, though he still didn’t touch the other, “It’s okay, Lovi, I believe you.”

“So?” Lovino snapped, viciously swiping his tears away. “He’ll probably never forgive me for that, and I don’t _want_ him to. I don’t deserve it.” he shook his head to himself, blinking rapidly to expel the moisture in his eyes. “My _nonno_ came downstairs to break it up, but I was just so fucking angry. I lashed out at him, I screamed in his face. I tried to push him, but _nonno_ is a lot bigger than me, so it didn’t really work.”

“You almost killed him, though?” Antonio wondered aloud, at a loss for how Lovino of all people (no offense to him, but the Italian really was small) could take down someone he just admitted being bigger than him. 

Lovino laughed a bit hysterically, hands shaking imperceptibly as he gestured vaguely, “I screamed at him until he yelled back, and then it just escalated. I forget how old he is sometimes, and his heart, it … it just couldn’t take it.”

“He had a heart attack.” Antonio realized, finally putting the pieces together.

Lovino nodded solemnly, “It almost killed him right there on the spot, but Feli was able to call an ambulance in time.”

“Oh, Lovi, I’m so sorry.” Antonio whispered.

Completely ignoring the apology, Lovino plowed ahead, “It just fucking broke me when we got to the hospital. I tried to run away right there, but my brother caught me in the parking lot. Feli grabbed my arm to try and stop me, but I pushed him away. I didn’t mean to, but he fell really hard on his shoulder and...”

Antonio put his hand to his mouth, remembering his short conversation with Feliciano. He anticipated the next words:

“You broke his arm.”

“I broke his arm.”

They said it in unison, Lovino’s wide eyes snapping up in confusion.

Antonio stepped in before a question could be voiced, smiling sheepishly as he explained, “Um, so Feliciano is actually dating my best friend’s brother. I met him a few days ago over the phone.”

It took a few seconds for that information to process, Lovino’s gaze decidedly blank before he growled, “You _what?”_

“I’m sorry!” Antonio almost yelled, although he knew he didn’t do anything wrong. He put his hands in front of him, like he was afraid Lovino would try and punch him, “I didn’t know he would be there, and it was a really short conversation! Oh, and I didn’t mention you at all, he has no idea you know me.”

At the last words, Lovino’s shoulders relaxed. He sighed heavily, dragging a slow hand down the length of his face, “Shit, he’ll be here in a couple weeks, won’t he?”

It was Antonio’s turn to twist his lips to the side in confusion, “How do you know about that?”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “You have loud fucking friends. The day that German annoyance was in your store, I heard every word from all the way in the back.”

Antonio almost laughed out loud, although he just barely muffled the sound enough so it became more of a choked-off chuckle, “Gil really doesn’t have an inside voice.”

“No shit.” Lovino huffed, looking faintly amused before a curtain of melancholy overshadowed the brief moment of levity. He still sat curled in the corner of the couch, knees hugged tightly to his chest to form a barrier. “My brother… well, he’s super talented. I mean, like he’s really amazing at what he does. He went to school for art, I think.”

“Graphic design.” Antonio corrected softly.

An impossibly hurt look overtook Lovino’s expression, “Y-yeah, so anyways, I broke his arm — his _right_ arm. I knew when he fell that he wouldn’t be able to draw or paint, and even after it healed he’d still probably have a hard time even writing.”

 _He’s doing just fine,_ was what Antonio was about to say, but Lovino didn’t give him the chance:

“That was just the fucking cherry on top — not only did I almost kill my grandpa, but I ruined my brother’s life as well.” his voice began cracking by the end of the statement, eyes decidedly absent as he continued. “I-I guess something in me snapped. I ran away, _far_ away. I hopped on the first bus and let it take me anywhere.”

Antonio was still leaning forward in his seat, watching in barely-concealed concern as Lovino struggled to keep a hold of himself. For someone who had a difficult grasp on emotions, he sure knew how to hold them back.

Lovino shook his head to himself, peering back up to say in a carefully neutral voice, “I fell apart a bit, it was fucking pathetic. I let people abuse me — I mean, I still do because I fucking deserve it.”

Antonio couldn’t hold his tongue, “No, you didn’t deserve it, you still don’t! Nothing you could have said justifies being used like that.”

“Yeah, well, my brother didn’t deserve the things I said to him. My grandpa didn’t deserve to be put in the hospital.” Lovino responded sullenly. “Look, I know exactly what you're thinking right now, but despite how it sounds, I don’t sleep around.”

“You don’t?” Antonio asked in shock.

“No, you dumbass.” Lovino huffed, fidgeting loosely with his hands before offering an explanation, “I have these… rules, I guess.”

Antonio almost sighed at the vague language, although he managed to keep the frustration from his voice, “What do you mean?”

“Well, um…” Lovino struggled with himself for a moment or two, shifting awkwardly on the couch before looking back up, “Even though I would let people, um, hurt me, I didn’t let them get away with everything. I still have some fucking self-respect, even if you don’t seem to think so.”

Antonio looked away at the sharp glare he was sent, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, _“Lo siento,_ Lovi. That’s not what I meant, I just-”

“Save it.” Lovino hissed shortly, although not completely in anger. His lips were twisted to the side in thought, most likely trying to figure out what to say next. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes, wincing when he aggravated the bruise there, “I don’t let people touch me, that’s one of my rules.”

“But-”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t touch them.” Lovino cut him sharply off. “I don’t go back to anyone’s house, I don’t spend the night, and I _don’t_ fucking kiss anyone.”

Antonio nearly jumped at the smoldering stare that was sent his way, trying to figure out what was being communicated to him. It took him an embarrassingly long amount of time, but when he did realize what was going on, Antonio gasped, “Wait, that means-”

“That I broke most of the rules for you?” Lovino asked sarcastically, crossing his arms in a huff. “It sure does, bastard.”

Antonio felt equal parts touched and ashamed of himself. He hadn’t known that Lovino really trusted him to that extent, and it felt good to realize that he was special to the foul-mouthed little Italian. On the other hand, Antonio was ashamed that he had so thoughtlessly undermined him and his misguided attempts to protect him.

“Anyway, I… uh…” Lovino trailed off, swiping at his eyes at the sudden moisture there. “I-I tell my clients these rules so I don’t end up getting... taken advantage of.”

The way he was back to stuttering over his words didn’t bode well with Antonio, something cold beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach, “Why do you sound so nervous?”

Lovino dropped his eyes to the ground, a look of shame overtaking his expression. He cleared his throat, squeezing his eyes tightly shut so he could rush out, "Because I... I-I fucking slept with that greasy son of a bitch, alright?"

Antonio’s eyes widened in horror, “You did _what?”_

Lovino flinched away at the harsh question, “He would’ve hurt you otherwise, I-I had to.”

“No, you didn’t.” Antonio whispered, reaching out without realizing what he was doing. He cupped Lovino’s face in either one of his hands, not knowing exactly when he’d crawled over to the opposite side of the sofa. He looked very seriously into those broken, hazel eyes and asked as gently as he possibly could, “What exactly did that note say?”

Instead of pushing those hands away, Lovino all but melted into the touch. His eyes drifted closed as silent tears raced down his cheeks, “It was a picture of you.”

Antonio very nearly jerked away in surprise, but resisted if only for the way Lovino finally brought his hands up to rest delicately on his wrists, “That’s it?”

Lovino gently shook his head, refusing to open his eyes, “It was a threat, either I give Price what I owed, or he’d fucking destroy your entire livelihood.”

Vaguely Antonio thought _Price_ sounded familiar, and it took him only another moment of contemplation before he realized, “Wait, as in _Mayor_ Price?”

Lovino started crying anew, nodding his head softly in response.

“B-but he has a wife and… and kids!” Antonio gasped in surprise.

“And the son of a bitch also has gay fantasies.” Lovino said bluntly, finally peeling his eyes open. He sniffled, still resolutely holding onto Antonio’s wrists like it would keep him afloat as the rest of him drowned.

Antonio felt something sharp pierce his chest, and he had to consciously banish the sudden feeling of possessiveness that welled up inside him. He couldn’t scare Lovino away now, not when he was finally opening up. Antonio forcibly swallowed the ugly feeling, putting on the most reassuring smile he possibly could, “I’m sorry, you didn’t have to go that far to protect me.”

Lovino choked on a bark of laughter, although it sounded more pained than anything, “This would have happened either way, I owed him.”

“What did you owe?” Antonio breathed, finally reclaiming one of his wrists when the smaller swiped at his eyes. Instead of returning to their previous position, Antonio snaked an arm around his shoulders and leaned back until they were both resting comfortably against the back cushion.

Lovino hummed in something like satisfaction, although his shoulders were still just a bit stiff from the contact. He curled up on his side, not even bothering to hide how comfortable he was as he launched into a hurried explanation, “Price is a piece of work, but he pays well. Sure, the bastard has a thing for choking me out, but he’s reliable.”

Antonio’s gaze drifted absently down, noting just how damaged Lovino’s neck looked. Just like last time, there was a vague outline of what looked like fingers on either side of his windpipe. It was a yellow, splotchy mass of horrid bruising, although much of it had already started to heal.

“It was cold outside.” Lovino mumbled, continuing in his explanation. “Like, stupid cold. I probably looked so fucking desperate that Price offered to put me up in a hotel for a night instead of paying cash. Like an idiot, I accepted. I really couldn’t resist, I don’t remember the last time I spent the night in an actual bed.”

Antonio nodded along, idly dragging his hand up and down the smaller’s arm.

“The next night when I saw him, he got really handsy with me.” Lovino shuddered, curling up a little tighter in on himself. “He always tried that shit with me, but it never got that far. I panicked and ran — right into you, bastard.”

“It was that night.” Antonio whispered in realization, indeed recalling the night Lovino had quite literally run into him. 

He nodded shortly, “Yeah, so… that’s it, I think. I guess you’re all caught up now.”

Antonio hummed his agreement, feeling rather content with how nicely they were curled up on the couch together. However, the warmth of being able to sit so closely to Lovino hardly lasted. No, Antonio couldn’t fully feel that contentedness spread throughout his body because there was still one detail in their conversation that ate at him, “Lovi, can I ask you something.”

Lovino shrugged, “Be my guest.”

“Um, okay…” Antonio took in a deep breath, anticipating a negative reaction. “Sorry, but have you ever slept with anyone before the other night?”

Just as expected, Lovino instantly tensed up, “Does it matter? What kind of fucking question-”

“Have you?” Antonio pushed.

Lovino peered up with a scowl, although he didn’t untangle himself from the cozy little nest they’d formed, “Bastard, where are you going with this?”

He was avoiding the question, and Antonio didn’t miss it. He sighed, but nonetheless explained what he meant, “Do you know what coercion is?”

That probably wasn’t the direction Lovino expected the conversation to go, his stupefied expression saying it all. He shook himself out of his brief moment of confusion, still scowling as he mumbled, “Yeah, I know what it is. What’s your point?”

Antonio bit his lower lip, having a hard time maintaining eye contact as he said, “Well, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Idiot-”

“Look,” Antonio said firmly, getting over himself to finally look the other directly in the eye, “I don’t think you realize how serious this is. You were threatened, that’s a crime.”

“So is prostitution, what’s your point?” Lovino growled, pulling away out of the hold on his shoulders.

Antonio let him retreat, “My point is that a very powerful person coerced you into sex, and you don’t seem to care.”

“Actually, I do care.” Lovino bit out, his glare quickly heating up. “What, are you disgusted with me now? Was this the final straw? I can leave if you want, that’s all you had to-”

His mini-rant ended in an undignified squeak when Antonio suddenly pulled him into a gentle hug. There was little else to do, any other words Antonio could have possibly spoken would have been immediately shrugged off. 

“Idiot, let me go.” Lovino grumbled softly, pushing weakly at his chest.

Antonio shook his head, also noticing how weak the attempts were to get away, “I know you’re not okay, Lovi. I also know that you’re probably going to punch me later for this, but I’m not letting you go until you admit it.”

“There’s nothing to admit, bastard.” Lovino mumbled, although he had completely ceased in his attempts to get away. “Don’t think you’re forgiven for earlier, either. You said some pretty shitty things to me.”

Antonio pursed his lips, not letting go even though he felt guilt invade his being. He was ashamed for exploding like he did, but he would do his very best to make up for it, “I know, but that’s not important right now. You told me that you’re not good at talking about your feelings, and that’s fine, but I need you to be honest with me.”

Lovino’s body was losing some of its tautness the longer the hug persisted, “Are you calling me a liar?”

“No, I’m calling you stubborn.” Antonio huffed, deciding that a new tactic was needed — _a distraction:_ “Why did you come back?”

Lovino jerked back in surprise, the question completely throwing him. For a moment it felt like he was about to physically rip himself out of the loose hug he was wrapped in, but in the end he gave a long-suffering sigh and answered, “Was the kiss not explicit enough, you oblivious bastard?”

Antonio chuckled softly at the characteristic reply, humming in contentment the more the little Italian relaxed in his grip, “How long?”

"I don't fucking know." Lovino grumbled, pursing his lips in thought. It took a few more seconds of contemplation, but he did eventually answer, "Maybe since the first time you gave me food."

Antonio cracked a small smile at that, “What’s that old phrase? The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?”

“Hey, I’m Italian, I like good fucking food.” Lovino defended.

“Well, lucky for you, I love to cook.” Antonio said lightly.

Lovino’s shoulders hitched up in what could only be laughter, finally surrendering something in his own mind in favor of relaxing completely into the hug, “What about you, then? You said you had a girlfriend, so…”

The unvoiced question was left hanging in the space between them, Antonio pausing for a moment to contemplate it. He really wasn’t sure exactly what he was feeling yet, although the logical part of his mind told him that he had a bit of a crush. There might be more to that feeling, but all Antonio knew was that he liked having Lovino around. 

Sure, he’d been happy with Emma while they’d been together, and he _thought_ that he was straight. However, his emotions right now completely betrayed that perception of himself. It was a little intimidating to think about, but two of his best friends weren’t exactly straight either (they both had a tendency to go both ways). He supposed it didn’t matter much if there was a label on what he was or wasn’t, instead he decided to just _feel_ and not think. 

Antonio smiled, enjoying the shared warmth between them as they both fully relaxed, “Yeah, I’ve only ever been with girls, but I like you a lot. If it’s okay, I think I’d like to see where this goes.”

Lovino nodded absently, a brief flash of fear shining behind his eyes, “I mean, I think I’d like that, but…”

He didn’t finish the statement, but Antonio thought he understood what reservations he still had. This was a person who let himself be used and abused at the hands of others in an extremely intimate manner — of course he would have trust issues to spare. On top of that, Antonio had definitely stomped on his heart during their fight earlier. It wasn’t fair to expect Lovino to dive headfirst into… _whatever_ kind of relationship they were going for. 

They were already off to a rocky start, but Lovino was still curled tightly up in Antonio’s arms. That had to mean something, so with a slow nod, Antonio responded, “It’s alright if you’re not ready, I can wait. Honestly, I’m just happy that you’re still here.”

Instead of getting defensive, Lovino blushed and looked away, “Idiot, has anyone ever told you that you’re too nice?”

“Hmm, no I don’t think so.” Antonio hummed, smirking at the resulting scoff. 

Lovino’s eyes were drooping the longer they sat like that, but his words were as sharp as ever, “When do you plan on letting me go?”

“When do you plan on admitting you’re not okay?” Antonio instantly snarked back. 

“I’m _fine.”_ Lovino whined, a dusting of red over his cheeks.

Antonio rolled his eyes, “I guess I’m not letting you go all night then.”

He fully expected an angry outburst, a sarcastic comment, some sort of scathing insult, but definitely not a surrender. Lovino sighed loudly, settling down fully on the couch, “I guess not.”

Antonio smirked in victory… until he remembered that _no, this isn’t a victory._ Suddenly he realized that Lovino fully intended to sleep right there in his arms, and there was nothing Antonio could do about it. He was suddenly pouting, annoyed that he’d been outsmarted, “You’re using me, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, bastard.” Lovino grumbled, sighing in contentment as he shifted on his side. “Damn, you’re warm.”

“You totally are!” Antonio yelled, completely forgetting about the fact that Lovino was _willingly_ curling up next to him. 

Lovino shrugged, not opening his eyes as he mumbled, “Do you know how fucking cold it was outside? I’m way too fucking tired to deal with these stupid emotions, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“But-”

“I’ll punch you if you don’t shut up.” 

There was no room for compromise in his voice, so with one last wordless grumble, Antonio settled down himself. The couch was too small for him to curl up on, so he resigned himself to being used as a human pillow. Briefly he wondered how Lovino had one: weaseled his way out of talking about his feelings, and two: tricked Antonio into spending the night out on the couch with him — all without admitting a damn thing!

The level of cunning was enough to make Antonio shudder.

“Oi, stop fucking thinking so loud.” Lovino growled.

Antonio looked down at him with a troubled expression, “I was thinking… too loud?”

“Yes, and now you’re talking too loud.” Lovino huffed.

There really was no winning with Lovino, so Antonio opted to just shut his mouth. They had a serious conversation in store for them tomorrow morning, and there was no way he was letting the sly Italian off the hook this easily again. 

Antonio was still deeply perplexed about the lack of self-preservation Lovino exhibited, and especially with the way that he didn’t seem to grasp that he was a victim of a serious crime. Antonio fully intended to get the police involved — not that he was going to tell Lovino that. He also needed to talk to Francis about… well, everything. The man’s threat still stood, and he would call the police for a completely different reason by tomorrow.

Making a mental note to text his friend in the morning, Antonio kicked his legs out and sank back against the cushions. He pulled Lovino partly on top of him, nearly laughing at the way the smaller hummed in satisfaction. 

They’d talk tomorrow, deal with the heavy emotions tomorrow. But right now, it was late, and Antonio was tired. Tomorrow sounded nice, much nicer than today. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Antonio mumbled without really meaning to.

Lovino grumbled softly, his own subconsciousness probably taking over as he responded, “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Yeah, tomorrow _definitely_ sounded nicer than today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, welcome to nearly 5,500 WORDS OF FUCKING DIALOGUE 
> 
> I did NOT mean for this chapter to get so long, what the fuck is wrong with me? And not only that, but it's like all exposition holy crap! Dear lord, I hope I didn't bore anybody to tears with how dialogue-heavy this was. I couldn't freaking stop myself, please forgive me for my lack of self-control T_T
> 
> Sheesh, I REALLY need to work on my other story, yet here I am. Let me know what you think of this chapter! Was Lovi's backstory what you were expecting? He's alluded to some of this stuff a few times, but this is the most explicit he's ever spoken, sooo
> 
> Also, yay for communication! It's amazing what gets solved if you actually TALK to each other!
> 
> OH and btw, I have the altercation between Lovi and Feli (and their grandpa) pretty much all written out. It's decently long, and I was thinking of posting it as a one-shot. Would you guys be interested in that, or not at all? 
> 
> Okay, I'm done. Thanks for reading, I love y'all so much!


	18. Chapter 18

Antonio was suffocating. 

There was no other explanation for this restrictive, smothering feeling — pressing down on his chest until all he wanted to do was kick and gasp for air. The weight on his body felt immense, pinning him down, making it impossible to draw breath. His eyes were glued shut by sleep, his body slowly regaining consciousness as that suffocating feeling slowly began to ebb.

He patted wildly around him, trying to pinpoint the cause of his suffocating. Antonio wasn’t completely lucid yet, finally snapping his eyes open when he accidentally smacked himself in the face. Everything was blurry, his hand still feeling around until he made contact with something warm — a dull _thump_ followed by an irritated hum.

With some effort, Antonio lifted his head up just enough to make out a figure resting fitfully atop his chest. All at once, the events of the previous night came flooding back, the rollercoaster of emotions he felt crashing down around him. He suddenly felt wide awake. 

Antonio brought his hand up to rub away the blurriness from his eyes, but he didn’t dare move more than that. The horrid weight on his chest was just Lovino (who was actually not heavy at all), that suffocating feeling being the effects of his half-awake stage and not any real imminent threat. But if Antonio felt any foolishness due to the wildly incorrect assumption that he was dying, it was blasted to the wayside by how positively _adorable_ Lovino looked right now.

The little Italian was resting halfway on Antonio, his head turned to press completely on his chest. Lovino’s mouth was only slightly ajar, his face free from any stress lines or wrinkles as he slumbered on. His hands were tucked underneath him, his legs sloping off of Antonio’s waist and towards the back of the couch. Everything about him screamed comfort and contentment, something that looked rather good on him when compared to his usual guarded expression and hostile attitude. 

With a broad smile, Antonio tried to slowly situate himself more comfortably on the couch. Unlike Lovino, he really wasn’t laying all that nicely on those plush cushions. Where Lovino’s legs sloped towards the back of the couch, one of Antonio’s was kicked clean off of it. His other leg was only barely on the cushion, and it was a marvel how he hadn’t fallen off yet. His neck was squished uncomfortably against the arm of the sofa while both his arms had found their way securely around Lovino’s too-skinny torso.

Antonio rather liked having Lovino in his arms right then, so he was careful to move slowly and deliberately so as to not jostle the small body that lay on top of him. He placed one foot against the opposite arm of the couch, pushing until he was sitting most of the way up. Once there, he brought his other leg up until they were both lying on the cushions as best as possible. 

Throughout his movements, he made sure not to disturb the small body in his arms, but unfortunately he didn’t do as well as he thought. In the process of sitting upright, Antonio squeezed his arms just a little too tightly. Lovino hummed softly in protest. 

Antonio froze the moment he heard the sound, unable to process just how endearing it was. If he was a sucker for anything, then it was small, cute things and Lovino happened to check off both boxes. He was unable to resist now, and feeling just a bit of mischief, Antonio squeezed his arms around the smaller one more time.

“Mmm.” was the hummed response.

With a little chuckle, Antonio squeezed again.

“Stop.”

_Squeeze._

“Fucking knock it off.” Lovino mumbled.

Antonio smirked, “How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to know you’re a fucking moron.” Lovino peeled his eyes open, glaring. “Oh, wait, I don’t have to be awake to know that, dipshit.”

“Well, good morning to you too.” Antonio laughed, bringing the smaller up with him as he sat properly against the arm of the sofa. He situated himself so he was sitting fully on the couch, Lovino gathered up towards his chest. His deal still remained, he would not let the Italian go until he admitted he wasn’t okay. 

Lovino grumbled, but didn’t offer much resistance beyond the characteristic glare that always overtook his features. He curled his knees towards his chest, even though he didn’t get very far with a pair of unrelenting arms around his middle. But despite his verbal protests, he seemed quite content with their current position on the couch. All was well... until Antonio pulled him too quickly to the side. He hissed sharply in pain, “Watch it, bastard.”

Antonio frowned, immediately ceasing in his movements, “Are you hurt?”

“What gave it away?” Lovino grumbled, sneaking a hand over his ribs.

“You are.” Antonio deduced shortly, although he didn’t dare make a move to check him over. His abdomen was probably bruised pretty badly if the pained hisses were any indication, but Antonio wouldn’t impose himself on the smaller without permission. Besides, maybe this was his way to force an admission out of him, “So, you’re hurt pretty bad.”

“Wow, you figured it out!” Lovino said with a roll of his eyes.

“I guess that means you’re not okay then, right?” Antonio pushed.

Lovino stiffened, apparently figuring out what was going on, “I already told you, I’m fine.”

Antonio mentally prayed for forgiveness before squeezing his arms a bit harsher than he had before. The resulting yelp of pain was expected, and although he felt bad for inflicting pain, it was necessary, “Please stop lying to me.”

“Fuck, are you trying to crush me?” Lovino groaned, his breaths coming out in pained little puffs. “Seriously, that fucking hurt!”

“Just admit it already.” Antonio said, no longer feeling so playful. 

Lovino was still rigid in the hold, unable to glare properly but doing his very best to convey his malcontent through his biting tone alone, “What the hell are you trying to prove here?”

The truth was, Antonio really didn’t have much of a point to prove. They both knew damn well that Lovino was far from okay, physically and emotionally. This had everything to do with the unfortunate habit he had of burying his feelings, and Antonio fully believed that if he couldn’t get him to at least admit his physical ailments, there was no way in hell they would ever get closer on an emotional level. Antonio really enjoyed Lovino’s company, he enjoyed the biting sarcasm, and yes he also enjoyed the challenge of getting through to him. But he thought he would enjoy getting to know him on a personal level a whole lot more, and it all started with one simple admission.

But there wasn’t a good way to put all that into words, so instead Antonio asked, “Do you think you deserve to be happy?”

“Clearly not.” Lovino started squirming uncomfortably in the hold, pushing weakly against the chest underneath him in a half-hearted attempt to get away. 

Antonio held firm throughout the attempted escape, pursing his lips to the side before saying, “I think you’re lying again. I think you want to be happy.”

Lovino groaned loudly in annoyance, finally surrendering to the fact that he couldn’t get away by settling petulantly down. He folded his arms on top of Antonio’s chest, lowering his chin to rest atop it, “Idiot, if I wanted to be happy, I would’ve offed myself already.”

Well, that’s not exactly what Antonio wanted to hear. He looked seriously down, trying to gauge just how serious Lovino was being. When he just avoided eye contact, Antonio sighed and (gently) tightened his grip, “I don’t think you mean that, Lovi. Do you know why?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Because you’re still here with me.” Antonio said. He looked down to observe some kind of reaction to his words, but he was simply met by a look of pure disbelief. With a little chuckle, Antonio explained what he meant, “If you didn’t want to be happy, you would have run away and never come back.”

Lovino opened his mouth to reply before closing it again. He was clearly struggling for some kind of snippy comeback, a retort, _something,_ but he just couldn’t seem to find a way to refute the bold claim. 

Antonio smiled, but it was subdued. The longer Lovino struggled with himself, the more obvious it was becoming that Antonio was completely correct in his assumption. He didn’t capitalize on the victory, instead saying softly, “Part of being happy is trusting other people. That means asking for help, even if it’s just for something like bruises.”

“I’m fine, I don’t need help.” Lovino pouted.

“What do you get out of shutting everybody out?” Antonio asked, genuinely curious.

Lovino shifted his eyes awkwardly around the room, looking anywhere but Antonio and his curious stare. He bit at his lower lip, contemplating what to say before sighing loudly, “I don’t… I don’t hurt anybody if I’m alone. Asking for help means that I’m somebody worth helping — which I’m _not._ I don’t expect you to understand, but this is what I get for being such a garbage human being.”

Antonio’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, not expecting such candor. He opened his mouth only to snap it closed, not exactly sure what to say to that. There was so much packed into just a few sentences, so much that he wanted to address. But it wasn’t a good idea to just tackle all of those issues at once — no, these were deep-seated issues of self-hate that may take years to iron out completely — so instead Antonio took a deep breath and asked, “So why did you come back?”

Red immediately engulfed Lovino’s face at the question, “I thought I answered that last night, idiot. Do you really need me to say it again?”

“Yes, because you’re not making sense anymore.” Antonio said. “You say one thing, but your actions completely contradict your words.”

Lovino’s shoulders scrunched up defensively, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Antonio groaned in frustration, “You say that you don't deserve help, but you still asked me for it. You tell me that you don’t deserve to be happy, but you kiss me and say that you’d like to be in a relationship. You say that you’re not hurt, that you’re fine, but I can see how bruised your neck is. Why don’t you just admit it? I don’t get it!”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Lovino said stiffly, completely brushing off every accusation.

Antonio glared, “So you hate yourself.”

“Yes.” Lovino answered shortly, glaring right back.

Antonio rolled his eyes, “Yet you’re still here with me.”

“Yup.”

“And you deserve to be hurt.”

“Yes.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Yes.”

“And you admit you’re not okay.”

“Yes.” Lovino clapped his hands over his mouth the instant he uttered the words, eyes wide when he realized what he just said.

Antonio smirked, then released the tight grip he had around the smaller’s torso, “That’s all you had to say.”

Instead of launching up and off the couch like Antonio expected, Lovino lingered for just a moment. He glared, his face heating up a bright cherry-red, “Fucking bastard, you can’t just trick me like that.”

“I didn’t trick you though.” Antonio said with a cheeky smirk. “I just helped you tell the truth.”

Lovino swatted him harshly in the chest before kicking his legs off the side of the couch. He stood, crossing his arms in a huff, “You owe me for that.”

Antonio laughed, also moving to stand, “Sure. How about I make breakfast while you take a shower?”

“It better be good fucking breakfast.” Lovino grumbled, but nonetheless turned on his heel and stalked towards the bathroom. 

With a soft snort of amusement, Antonio turned towards his bedroom so he could dig something up for Lovino to wear. He eventually found a dark grey hoodie with some black sweatpants, deciding that it would work well enough. His store was closed today, so it wasn’t like they had anywhere to be. 

At the thought, Antonio dug his phone out of his pocket and opened his contacts. As he walked to the bathroom, he typed out a quick text to Francis, making sure the man wouldn’t call the cops. Once he sent the message, he looked up and knocked on the door, “Hey, I’m leaving some clothes outside the door.”

There was a muffled response that sounded vaguely like an _okay._ Antonio turned his way into the kitchen to start their breakfast.

He reached in and grabbed a carton of eggs, humming lightly to himself as he cooked. He wondered if he should try to get Lovino to talk about his feelings again, but maybe he had already pushed enough for one day. It really was like pulling teeth when trying to get him to talk, and the best method may honestly be to wait for him to bring up his issues first… yeah, because that was going to happen.

Antonio sighed, poking at the eggs in the pan with a spatula. While he had given Lovino an out that morning by _tricking_ him into admitting he wasn’t okay, Antonio really wasn’t all that satisfied. He recognized that this kind of stubbornness didn’t just disappear after one night of heated arguments and tearful admissions. The self-deprecating comments were worrisome to say the least, and the only thing that would really solve that was steady support and constant validation that would hopefully alter his own warped perception of himself.

The eggs started crackling and popping softly in the pan, and Antonio once again poked it with his spatula. He was still toying with the idea of calling the police to expose Price for what he did. Even if Lovino didn’t see the significance, Antonio sure as hell did. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more livid Antonio was growing. The fact of the matter was that a very powerful person coerced a struggling, homeless kid into sex by using Antonio as leverage. That sort of thing could really damage a person psychologically, and Antonio wasn’t completely convinced that Lovino was really as unbothered by it as he said he was.

A smokey smell started wafting up from the stove, but Antonio hardly noticed it. His eyes glazed over in thought, his lips beginning to tingle as he remembered that harsh kiss they shared last night. He had kind of rushed his obligatory sexuality-crisis, and he had a feeling his ostentatious friends were the reason for that. But now he was alone, so he supposed it would be alright to overthink things for just a moment.

He still didn’t know exactly how he should feel about this new part of himself. Quite honestly, the realization that Lovino apparently felt something for him too made him feel excited rather than nervous. Well, he was still nervous, but not _terrified._

Okay, maybe a little terrified.

Antonio bit his lower lip in thought. He didn’t know how he should bring this up to Lovino — that is, the discussion on what they were to each other. It was too early to say they were in a relationship, and it felt odd to say they were dating too. What were they? Has Lovino thought about this? Did it even matter? 

Maybe Antonio should ask his friends for help, but then again, his friends were both _horrendous_ at giving advice.

_“But of course you are dating!”_ Francis would say, irritated scoff and all. _“I could hardly breathe in here from all the sexual tension. Just make a move already, mon beau. Here, big brother will offer a demonstration…”_

Antonio shuddered, shaking his head clear of that particular nightmare.

_“Dude, he already kissed you. Seriously, stop worrying so much and just do whatever feels right, labels be damned!”_ proclaimed imaginary-Gilbert.

Actually, imaginary-Gilbert had some sound advice. Maybe Antonio should listen to him more.

The smell of smoke was only growing more pungent, but lost in his thoughts as he was, Antonio didn’t even notice. That is, until somebody forced him to.

“Oh my God, you’re going to burn down the damn building!” Lovino screeched, as he forced his way between Antonio and the stove.

“Huh?” Antonio replied intelligently, watching dazedly as Lovino immediately removed the smoking pan from the heat. 

“Fucking idiot, holy shit.” said Lovino, turning off the burner and whipping around to face Antonio with a confused scowl, “Just what in the hell were you thinking about that you didn’t notice the eggs fucking frying to a crisp?”

Antonio felt heat under his skin, his face no doubt burning as he finally registered what had happened. He smiled sheepishly, finding that he was rather embarrassed by his obliviousness, “Um, I was thinking about you?”

That seemed to be simultaneously the wrong thing, and the right thing to say. Lovino’s face exploded in a deep blush, turning away to hide his own embarrassment, “Dumbass, well now our breakfast is ruined.”

It certainly seemed that way, but Antonio would be damned if he didn’t try to rectify this mistake. He turned towards the fridge, opening up the freezer to inspect his options. He spotted some frozen waffles tucked away in the corner, the box beat up and crinkled from being shoved haphazardly back. Antonio smiled, retrieving the box and proudly presenting it, “Do you like waffles?”

Lovino stared at him in disbelief, letting loose a long-suffering sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger like a disappointed parent might when their kid did something stupid. Without looking up, he said, “How in the hell did you ever survive on your own?”

Antonio chuckled at that, beginning the process of placing the frozen waffles in the toaster, “Hey, I know how to cook. You’re just distracting is all.”

“Don’t blame your idiocy on me, you fucked up all on your own.” Lovino huffed with a roll of his eyes. He sauntered over to the table, plopping heavily down as he watched Antonio hum to himself over the toaster.

The kitchen lapsed into an easy silence then, no more near-disasters left to distract them. Antonio hummed very softly to himself. He swayed in time to his own melody, turning to let his gaze idly pass over the only other inhabitant.

Only, instead of a fleeting glance, their eyes locked. Antonio was once again pinned by those blazing gold irises. Antonio had always found Lovino’s eyes astonishingly beautiful, even before he realized that his thoughts were of the… ahem, _not-straight_ variety. He thought he would like to melt into that steady gaze, molten gold setting his entire being to scalding liquid.

Lovino had this curious look on his face, his hands tucked into the front of the gray hoodie he wore. As always, he was practically swimming in his clothing, but he didn’t seem to particularly mind. It was probably warmer in the baggy clothing, and Antonio knew just how much Lovino hated to be cold.

The staring match continued past what was comfortable, for once no snippy comments exchanged between the two of them. Lovino bit his lip awkwardly, his face dusted a light shade of red. Without a word, he ducked his head down and curled up on the wooden chair he was seated on.

Antonio coughed awkwardly into the crook of his elbow, ducking his own head down. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the food to finish cooking. It seemed to be taking forever, and Antonio didn’t know how to fill the tense silence. The toaster dinged loudly, causing him to jump. He scooped their makeshift breakfast onto two plates. 

He ambled slowly over, grabbing some syrup before setting their breakfast down. Lovino perked up when he was presented the food, immediately shoveling it in his mouth when he was given a fork. It was like he was starving…

Oh wait, he was.

Antonio felt like bashing his head in the wall when he remembered that Lovino hadn’t eaten anything last night. Or probably the night previous. Or the night before that. Holy shit, had he neglected to eat the _entire week?_

He would have worked himself up into a guilty mess of apologies and anger (at himself) had his phone not suddenly vibrated. Antonio dug the small device out of his pocket, huffing at the text he received:

From: Francis

> So, our resident spitfire has returned?

Followed quickly by another text:

From: Francis:

> Pics or it didn’t happen

“Idiot.” Antonio muttered under his breath, a tad miffed that his friend didn’t believe him when he said that Lovino had returned. 

Lovino glanced up at the irritated mumbling, letting his eyes ask the question.

Antonio sighed, not completely sure how to explain himself. He didn’t want to tell Lovino that they planned on calling the cops on him — especially since Antonio promised not to. He also didn’t want to lie, each option guaranteed not to go over particularly well. Maybe he could sneak a picture...

Lovino gave up trying to figure out why Antonio was staring, ducking his head back down to shovel more food into his mouth. 

It was now or never, so as stealthily as he could, Antonio brought his phone up. He made sure the picture was in focus before he clicked the center button… and _oh God, he left the flash on!_

Lovino’s face was illuminated by the bright flash, his head whipping up in shock. His eyes were wide in confusion, staring back at Antonio’s own horrified face with a blank look. After a beat, it must have registered what had happened, his expression darkening in anger, “What. The. Fuck.”

Antonio quickly lowered his phone, trying to placate, “I-I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to notice, and-” 

“Delete it!” Lovino screeched, shooting out of his chair and scrambling to the other side of the table.

Antonio sprang to his feet, his chair screeching harshly along the flooring as he held his phone up over his head, “No, I need this!”

“What does that even mean?” Lovino yelled, reaching one hand up to try and reach. Unfortunately for him, his short stature sabotaged his attempts to snatch the phone out of Antonio’s grip, his scowl intensifying as he grabbed Antonio’s shoulder to try and bring him down.

The sight was something to behold — Antonio holding his cellphone straight up in the air as Lovino desperately clawed upwards to try and reach. It was actually kind of funny, and suddenly Antonio couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that cut through, “Oh my gosh, you’re so short!”

“Fuck off!” Lovino shouted, throwing his own dignity out the window as he actually jumped to try and reach. “Just delete the damn picture, you fucking creep!”

Well now Antonio really didn’t want to delete it, “Aw, but you’re just so cute! I don’t have any pictures of you, why can’t I keep this one?”

“Don’t question me, just delete it!” Lovino whined, taking a step back with a scowl. He must have realized that his efforts to reach up were entirely pointless because he crossed his arms with a defined little pout.

It was adorable, at least to Antonio. He couldn’t help himself, he brought his phone down and snapped another picture.

Lovino blinked once, frozen. Then he blinked again. And then he launched himself at the Spaniard, both of them tumbling to the ground, “What the fuck is wrong with you!”

The moment Antonio hit the ground, he curled up on his side around his phone as he laughed, “Why does it matter? I just want a picture of you, Lovi!”

Lovino was on his knees trying to pry Antonio’s arms open so he could reach the coveted device, but once again it was proving to be a fruitless endeavor. With one final shove to Antonio’s shoulder, he gave up and sat down heavily on the ground, “Dumbass, why are you like this?”

“I know you love it.” Antonio teased, still curled tightly around his phone. “You talk big, but I haven’t been murdered yet, so-”

“Don’t push your luck, I can still murder you in your sleep.” Lovino said darkly, hauling himself up to stand. He glared down at Antonio, the look only darkening when the Spaniard smiled cheekily up at him. With a huff, Lovino turned on his heel and announced, “Well, since you’re so comfortable down there, I guess you won’t mind if I finish your breakfast.”

Antonio’s smile dropped from his face, scrambling to get up, “Wait, those are the last of my waffles!”

“Should have thought about that sooner, then.” Lovino said, scooping the plate up before zipping away.

“No, come back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I've been gone for like a month! I didn't mean to omg, but here's a long chapter to make up for it! 
> 
> I wanted to put some fluff in, and it was really fun to write lol. I hope you liked reading it, even if it was kind of heavy in the beginning. I actually have some plot planned out, and I'm excited to get into it! 
> 
> ALSO if you haven't seen, I posted the fight Lovi had with his family that caused him to run. I just made this fic part of a series so it's easy to find, so check it out if you haven't already!
> 
> Okay that's all I got. Next chapter should also have some fluff... and some drama too ;)
> 
> Let me know what you think of this one, sorry again for taking like a month break haha. See ya guys later, thanks so much for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

The rest of the day had flown by, both Lovino and Antonio not doing anything consequential. A lot of awkward glances, a few aborted attempts to talk about their feelings, and an _ungodly_ amount of sexual tension that Lovino was fairly certain that he was the only one to feel. 

He had been a flustered mess all day, but he’d done an admirable job of hiding that fact. But it seemed that everything was coming to a head, and all it took was one suggestion:

“Hey, how about we watch a movie?”

And honestly, what else could Lovino say but _yes._

So there they were, sitting together on the couch like the night before, except now all the awkwardness they’d previously felt was magnified tenfold. 

What should he say? What should he do? Nothing at all? But oh God, they were so close and Lovino had _feelings_ that he didn’t know how to express, and Antonio was just so attractive — like, _damn_ — maybe he should make a move?

No, certainly not. He wasn’t that bold.

They were sitting together on the couch, an obligatory cushion between them (just to add to the tension) as the television played some movie neither of them were watching. Well, at least Lovino wasn’t watching — he was too busy paying attention to the way Antonio was biting at his bottom lip. Dear God, Lovino needed to control himself.

It really wasn’t fair that Antonio was so attractive, and the fact that he admitted to having feelings as well made Lovino’s heart do a strange flip. But he couldn’t make a move, couldn’t close the gap between them. Why? Well, put as simply as possible, Lovino was afraid.

He couldn’t remember if he’d ever felt such attraction to another person before, and he wasn’t just talking about physical traits. Antonio had been one of the most unconditionally kind people that Lovino’s ever met, and he was honestly a bit intimidated by that. Lovino didn’t know how to handle kindness, or more accurately, how to reciprocate it. 

The day he pushed his family away was the day he realized that he wasn’t meant for kindness or sympathetic words. He had then accepted his life of struggle and hardship as a form of atonement, a way for him to cope with his own existence. That wasn’t to say he enjoyed it, but it was something he was more than willing to bear.

But then he found that stupid little flower shop with a dumbass florist that had almost immediately stolen his heart. Lovino tried to suppress that attraction, but weeks of kindness and understanding had broken him down until he felt that they could maybe, one day, _possibly_ have something more — and he did want more.

With a sigh, Lovino glanced very briefly to his side, finding Antonio was still abusing his bottom lip. It seemed like an unconscious action, something that accompanied that focused stare of his. He was clearly engrossed by the movie, feet propped up on the coffee table, and hand sitting unmoving on the couch cushion between them palm up.

Suddenly Lovino _really_ wanted to hold his hand.

This just wasn’t fair, it was like Antonio wasn’t aware of what he was doing to him. He had to look away, otherwise he would do something stupid like close the distance between them and wriggle his way under Antonio’s arm so he could be held. It would be little effort to then reach up and place a short peck on his cheek, maybe exchange a short barb or two (just to keep up his appearance as an aloof delinquent), before maybe shifting to kiss him on the lips — and, _oh,_ that was a thought.

Lovino’s face was burning, and he absently brought a hand up to his lips when he remembered how he had so carelessly kissed Antonio in the heat of the moment. How would that kiss feel now when they were no longer at each other’s throats? Where might it lead? Lovino thought that he wanted to find out for himself, but then he felt something painful.

His ribs. They were throbbing.

He snuck a hand around his middle, immediately casting his eyes downwards to the dull carpeting below. Now he was remembering his earlier apprehension, why he couldn’t bring himself to think about how much further they could go. His life revolved around sex, to the point where it was almost routine for him. It was mindless, pure indulgence for the men he serviced, and he was terrified of becoming just another tool of pleasure to someone he had such deep feelings for. 

Besides that, he had experienced his first time with someone who had threatened him into it, and the whole ordeal was… painful to say the least. He didn’t think that’s what sex was supposed to feel like, but with no other frame of reference, Lovino couldn’t even imagine a way in which that experience could be pleasurable for both parties involved. Well, he supposed that you don’t _usually_ get beat up moments before (revenge for when Lovino had landed a particularly nasty blow on the man’s face a few weeks ago), and apparently being strangled during the act could theoretically be pleasurable to a willing participant, but as it was, the experience was unbearable.

He wouldn’t ever tell Antonio this, but the reason it took him so long to return was twofold — the first couple days he’d been suspended in agony. The pain, both physical and mental, had left Lovino unable to do anything but curl up on that oversized bed for hours. He cried so hard, so much, that Price had actually gotten fed up with him and kicked him out. Discarded him, just like that.

Lovino will never admit how much that hurt or how absolutely ashamed of himself he was for feeling that way.

The next few days he’d tried to force himself back towards that dumb little flower shop, but the shame he felt was too potent. He couldn’t face Antonio after that, too disgusted with what he had become. That is, until it became too cold to survive outside. After days of wallowing in his own misery, he finally dried his tears long enough to make his way back. He was glad that he did, but… now what? What were they? Not dating, surely, but what then?

“Wow, what an ending!” Antonio said, flopping heavily back with a dumbfounded expression. He turned to Lovino with that endearing smile of his, “What did you think, Lovi?”

Quite honestly, Lovino hadn’t even noticed that the credits had started rolling. He stared blankly at the screen, only vaguely registering the generic music that played in the background, “Uh, it was… good?”

Antonio laughed, “Yeah, I think so too. What was your favorite part?”

Oh shit, he was caught. Lovino felt a blush engulf his face when he realized that he had completely zoned out for the entire movie, too focused on… more important things. Maybe he could just shrug it off, “Eh, it was all pretty much the same. What was your favorite part?”

Antonio smirked, and suddenly Lovino felt trapped. The stupid Spaniard chuckled lightly in amusement, completely dropping his act when he said, “My favorite part was when you stared at me for ten minutes straight.”

If Lovino’s face felt warm before, then it was on _fucking fire now, holy shit._ He pushed a hand over his eyes in embarrassment, trying to save face by growling, “It’s because your stupid face had this dumb look on it, I was captured by the stupidity.”

“Mm-hm, sure you were.” Antonio teased.

“Idiot, shut up.” Lovino mumbled, embarrassed beyond all belief. “Maybe the movie was just so shit that your face was the only tolerable thing left to look at.”

Antonio let loose a sharp bark of laughter before he could muffle it with his hand. He was clearly amused by this whole ordeal, the stupid bastard, “Well, I’m glad you think my face is tolerable. Your face is pretty tolerable too.”

“Ugh, is that you trying to flirt, or are you just stupid?” Lovino groused, lowering his hand so he could finally glare properly.

Antonio hummed in thought, tapping a finger absently against his chin, “Hmm, why not both? You already think I’m stupid, and I wouldn’t mind flirting with you some more.”

“Oh my God, shut up!” Lovino whined, hiding his face in both of his hands. He just couldn’t handle how ridiculously endearing Antonio was, all these stupid little comments only making Lovino feel more flustered.

“I’m sorry, you’re just too easy to mess with.” Antonio laughed, pulling Lovino’s hands away from his face. 

Lovino jerked his head up, finding that Antonio was suddenly right next to him, still gripping his hands in his own. That cushion no longer separated them, and they were so close, and dear lord Lovino wanted to make a move, but he couldn’t because he was still so fucking terrified, and fuck now Antonio was looking worriedly at him, what should he do-

“Hey, are you alright?” Antonio asked, releasing the grip he had on Lovino’s hands.

Lovino missed the warmth immediately, but he couldn’t focus on that right now because his chest was heaving. He had never been prone to panic attacks, but he was damn good at overthinking things, and right now he was entirely overwhelmed, “I-I’m fine.”

Antonio scowled in disapproval, “You don’t have to lie to me, you know.”

True as that may be, Lovino would be damned if he admitted weakness right now. He still had an image to project after all, “Dumbass, I’m not lying. What time do you have to go to work tomorrow?”

The abrupt change of subject was jarring, but Antonio let it go with a long-suffering sigh, “I need to be there by seven, do you want to come in with me?”

Lovino didn’t even need to think twice, “Yeah, I do.”

Antonio smiled in response, “Oh, good! I bet Francis missed you too, he seemed so worried!”

“Like I give a shit how that fuckface feels.” Lovino mumbled before he suddenly remembered something. Feliciano was going to be visiting in a few short weeks, and he hadn’t even begun to think about the implications of that. He suddenly whipped his head up, fixing Antonio with a serious look, “What day is my brother visiting?”

Antonio looked momentarily shocked with the sudden way the tone of their conversation darkened. He bit nervously at his lip, asking softly, “If I tell you, are you going to run away again?”

Lovino recoiled, hating how sullen Antonio suddenly sounded. Actually, he had completely planned on disappearing the day Feliciano showed up. Not that he would have gone far, he would have simply roamed the streets for a few hours before showing back up at Antonio’s apartment for the night. But he wasn’t about to admit that out loud, so instead he shook his head, “No, I just want to know when he’s going to be here.”

Antonio clearly wasn’t reassured by that, but he offered an answer anyway, “Two weeks.”

“Okay, which day?” Lovino pushed.

Antonio contemplated the answer for a moment before shrugging, “I don’t remember.”

The cold delivery of the answer was the biggest indicator that he was lying, and suddenly Lovino felt hot with anger, “Are you seriously lying to me right now?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lovi.” Antonio said, crossing his arms petulantly over his chest. “Besides, if you’re not going to be completely honest with me, then why should I be completely honest with you?”

Okay, maybe he had a bit of a point. Still, Lovino felt just a little betrayed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think this was any of your business.”

Antonio sighed loudly in annoyance, “You need to make up with your family eventually, it’s not fair to play dead while they’re looking for you.”

“How do you know they’re even looking for me?” Lovino pouted, even if he knew damn well that there was a substantial reward over his head. 

Antonio rolled his eyes, “I’m not going to fight you right now, it’s late. I just want you to think about something for me.”

“Fine, what is it?” Lovino conceded, also not willing to start another fight at this hour.

“When do you plan on forgiving yourself for the past?” 

Lovino froze for just an instant, his breath hitching in his throat. The easy answer was _never,_ but he doubted that Antonio would accept that.

“You don’t have to answer me now, but I want you to think about it, okay?” Antonio said after a beat.

But Lovino really didn’t want to think about a realistic answer to that question, finding that it was too painful to bear. So he nodded, completely dismissing it with a wave of his hand, “Fine, whatever. Can we go to bed now?”

Antonio stretched his arms over his head, nodding once, “Yeah, it’s getting really late.”

“Yeah…” Lovino breathed, suddenly aware of two things at once. The first of which was how close Antonio still was to him, maybe two or three centimeters separating them at the most. The second thing he suddenly became aware of was that they hadn’t discussed sleeping arrangements yet.

All of a sudden, the silence that enveloped them was horribly awkward. Lovino slowly wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his chin on top of them. Last night was an anomaly, with Lovino literally falling asleep on top of Antonio, and wasn’t bound to happen again… unfortunately. It’s not like he wanted to be held hostage by Antonio or anything! Definitely not, the Spaniard was just way more stubborn than he gave him credit for. And so much warmer. And stronger. And more comfortable. And-

_Alright, enough of that._

In any case, Lovino wasn’t sure what was expected of him. It’s not like they were dating… or were they? And suddenly Lovino had come full circle in his overthinking, back to this topic of what exactly the nature of their relationship was. Nice.

Antonio coughed into the crook of his elbow, probably to break up the tense silence around them. He glanced at Lovino, offering him a nervous little smile, “Well, uh, I’m not sure what you’re comfortable with, but my bed is pretty big, so...”

He didn’t finish the statement, back to looking awkwardly around the living room. Lovino himself was feeling all sorts of anxious himself, for multiple reasons. He knew he should really get his mind out of the gutter, but did sleeping with Antonio in his bed imply he wanted something of a sexual nature? Lovino just didn’t know how to tread, he’d never been in an actual relationship before and to him getting in someone’s bed immediately equated sex. God he was so fucked up, Lovino looked away in shame.

“Hey, you can say no.” Antonio said when he noticed the way the smaller was shutting down. He bridged the small gap between them, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear. “This doesn’t mean anything, we’re just sleeping, okay?”

Lovino hated to admit it, but those soft words paired with the gentle touch really did soothe his frayed nerves. He looked up to find Antonio’s vivid green eyes waiting for him, and the man himself was smiling with such a patient look. He was still apprehensive, sure, but he really did trust Antonio. So, with a shuddering breath, Lovino nodded and said, “Okay. Um, if it’s alright then I’d like to sleep in your bed with you.”

Antonio smiled broadly at that, offering a hand when he stood up. With only one more moment of hesitation, Lovino accepted it. They made their short trip to Antonio’s bedroom where Lovino was interested to note that the picture of him and his old girlfriend was gone.

 _Good,_ thought Lovino, not caring how smug he was about that fact.

They were both already changed into sweats for the night, the only step left was for them to crawl into bed — incidentally, this was the hardest part. Lovino hesitated even though he knew, _he knew,_ that Antonio wouldn’t try anything. He trusted the cheerful Spaniard, but nine months of relying on some of the most detestable people in the city made Lovino a little edgy about things like this.

Antonio took a seat on the bed, offering an encouraging smile as he kicked his legs up on the mattress, “Seriously, if you’d rather sleep on the couch that’s fine. Or I could sleep on the couch. I mean, you’re not even obligated to stay in my apartment, but I would prefer you did. For real, whatever you’re comfortable with, I don’t want to make you nervous, and-”

“Jesus, shut up.” Lovino grumbled, silencing the near-panicked rambling by walking to the other side of the bed and sitting heavily down. Before he could overthink things, he swung his legs up on the mattress, pushing them under the covers without a word.

Antonio simply smiled in response, reaching over to flip the lights off before pushing himself under the covers.

Once again, silence enveloped them, and it was just as awkward as last time. Lovino could actually hear his heartbeat hammering in his chest, and briefly he hoped that Antonio couldn’t hear it — damn, that’d be embarrassing.

Lovino was laying stiff as a board in the bed, unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling above. He couldn’t see Antonio, but he could tell that he was laying on his back. This wasn’t a comfortable position for either of them, but Lovino just couldn’t bring himself to so much as shift where he lay.

Fortunately, Antonio didn’t share the same reservations. He moved to lay on his side, facing Lovino. Then, just like some giggly teenager at a sleepover, he whispered, “Hey, Lovi. You still awake?”

Lovino barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, “I have not somehow fallen asleep in the last two fucking minutes since you turned off the lights — of course I’m awake, dumbass!”

The resulting chuckle was far too amused for Lovino’s liking, “Sorry, I just wanted to say thank you.”

“What?” Lovino hissed.

The bed dipped, and suddenly Antonio’s voice sounded like it was hovering over him, “I know how hard it is for you to trust people like this, and I just wanted to let you know that it makes me really, really happy that you decided to give me a second chance.”

For perhaps the millionth time that night, Lovino’s face burned in embarrassment. Despite the darkness that surrounded them, he threw an arm over his face to shield it from view, “Idiot, as if I’d let you get away that easily.”

Antonio squeaked in delight, suddenly collapsing down on the bed. He pulled Lovino into his chest in what was probably supposed to be a hug, but they just ended up in a heap of tangled limbs. “That means a lot to me, thank you.”

“Yeah, well... “ Lovino trailed off, not exactly sure what he should say to that. In the end, he decided to say nothing and just relax into the hug. It was warm like this, and he felt the safest he’s been since the day he ran away. Gone were the frenzied thoughts of sharing a bed and what that may imply, now all he could feel was comfort and contentment. 

The silence around them wasn’t awkward anymore, the still atmosphere like a warm blanket. Or a warm Spaniard. Either way, Lovino was feeling quite content to just allow Antonio to remain curled around him all night, but there was still something he was itching to do. It took a moment or two, and after many hesitations, Lovino finally worked up enough nerve to crane his neck upwards and press a quick peck to Antonio’s cheek. He immediately ducked his head once he had succeeded in his task, muttering a soft, “Goodnight.”

Antonio went rigid before it registered what had happened, and in the next moment he was pressing a soft kiss to the top of Lovino’s head, “Sleep well.”

And Lovino did exactly that, resting fitfully in the arms of some dumbass florist who he’d fallen so completely for.

* * *

The next morning they awoke in a tangle of limbs, sunlight filtering delicately in through the smudged windows. It was warm under the blanket, one of Antonio’s legs kicked over Lovino’s body, which was pressed flush against the Spaniard’s larger body. This was one of the rare moments where Lovino actually liked being as small as he was, it made it easier to curl up into a tight little ball. Really, everything in this moment was perfect, even Antonio’s soft snoring wasn’t enough to ruin this tranquil morning. 

But, as everything, it was not to last. Lovino’s eye twitched when a ray of sunlight hit his face just so, and it was with an annoyed pout that he realized that Antonio’s alarm was bound to go off any minute-

Oh, there it was.

A piercing shriek cut through the otherwise soft moment, Antonio’s gentle snoring cut abruptly off at the sound. He struggled to untangle their limbs, the task greatly impeded when Lovino just straight up refused to help — he was too tired (lazy) to move right then anyhow. In the end, it didn’t matter if Lovino helped or not because Antonio finally freed himself enough to reach his phone. He squinted at the screen, pressing a button before mumbling, “Hello?”

Lovino was confused at first before he realized that it wasn’t an alarm that had gone off, but a ringtone. The phone was on speaker, a familiar french accent coming though next:

“Toni, you need to come in right now.” 

Antonio propped himself up on an elbow at the tone, rubbing his eyes clear to say in a sharper voice, “Why? What happened?”

“A lot.” was the short response. “I really don’t know how to explain this, just get dressed and get over here.”

Lovino rubbed his own eyes clear, also pushing himself up on one arm. He didn’t like how apprehensive Francis sounded over the line, his voice taking on a panicked edge. 

Antonio must have thought so too, exchanging a short glance with Lovino before turning back to the phone, “Okay, we’ll be there in a little bit.”

“Just hurry, I already called the police.”

That didn’t sit well with Lovino at all, his heart plummeting in his chest.

Antonio hung the phone up shortly thereafter, immediately launching himself out of the bed to get dressed. He threw some clothes at Lovino, the standard oversized jumper that he normally wore, “You heard the man, we should probably hurry.”

Lovino nodded, gripping the clothes in his hands. He bit nervously at his bottom lip, looking up slowly, “Is everything okay?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Antonio breathed.

“Yeah,” Lovino mumbled, a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, “I guess we will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-ohhh, the drama commences! Wonder what happened hmmm
> 
> Lol, I do love me a good cliffhanger. And yay, Lovi's point of view! Oh boy, Lovino's got it b a d for Antonio lmao. I love writing his point of view, it's really interesting to explore his character.
> 
> Okie that's really all I got for this chapter. Thanks so much for reading, and let me know what you think! Have a good day/night, and I'll catch y'all later!


	20. Chapter 20

Antonio really wasn’t sure what he was going to see when he arrived at his store. Maybe it burned down, or was vandalized beyond recognition. There were about a million and one possibilities that ran rampant through his mind, each one more likely than the last. So when his store did come into view, he should have been prepared for every possibility… except for this. Honestly, he shouldn’t have expected anything less than what he actually saw — Francis shamelessly flirting with a police officer. 

“Back off, git. I have a job to do.” came a distinctly British accent.

“Ah, but how can I stay away? You really are very lovely-”

“As if I give a damn what you think.”

“You have the most beautiful eyes, _mon beau.”_

“What did you just call me?”

“Perhaps I could tell you over dinner.”

“As if I’d be caught dead with-”

“The most beautiful man you’ve ever seen?”

“No, a bloody frog!”

Francis recoiled, hand placed delicately on his chest, “My dear, you wound me.”

The cop, a man with coarse blond hair and a pair of shining green eyes, crossed his arms indignantly over his chest, “Like I care. Now move over and let me do my job.”

With a sigh, Antonio quickened his steps down the sidewalk. He really shouldn’t be surprised anymore, his friend flirted with everyone. Still, he’d been hoping that Francis could act a little more professional when the police were involved. 

“What am I going to do with him?” Antonio mumbled under his breath.

Following by just a step behind, Lovino said, “You could fire his ass.”

Antonio shrugged, “Yeah, but then he’d whine until I hired him back.”

“So? Let him whine, you’re the boss.” Lovino pointed out, crossing his arms when a sharp gust of wind smacked into them.

“I’m still friends with him.” Antonio sighed, noticing how the cop’s face went scarlet when Francis made a particularly lewd comment. “Besides, he keeps things interesting.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Lovino grumbled.

Antonio shrugged once more, unable to adequately explain why he was such close friends with the obnoxious Frenchman. Instead he focused on trying to uncover what exactly had happened to his store. On the outside, nothing seemed to be wrong. Everything was in order — all of the windows were intact, his beautiful ivy leaves still crawled up the coarse brick, and there were no outward signs of vandalism. The only thing that indicated something was wrong was the way the door hung open, creaking on the hinges as the wind pushed it to and fro. 

With a creeping sense of dread, Antonio finally made it the rest of the way down the sidewalk. The moment he stopped in front of them, Francis ceased in his brash flirting, his expression turning to one of concern.

“What happened?” Antonio instantly asked, feeling the way Lovino hid behind him to avoid the curious eyes of the police officer.

The cop cleared his throat, brushing imaginary dirt from his shoulder as he tried to recompose himself, “And you are?”

“Antonio.” he stuck a hand out, shaking firmly when it was accepted. “I’m the owner.”

The man nodded, “Right, you can call me Officer Kirkland. I’m still trying to figure out what happened myself, but it’s a bit convoluted.”

“What do you mean?” Antonio asked, casting a nervous glance to the door of his little store.

“Well, it seems your store was broken into.” Kirkland said, leading them over to the front door. “But there aren’t any signs of forcible entry, it’s like they just walked in.”

That creeping sense of dread was growing by the second, and Antonio chanced just a fleeting glance behind him at Lovino. When Lovino had gone, for lack of a better term, _missing_ last week, Antonio had made it a habit of keeping the door unlocked in hopes that Lovino would return. He knew it was a poor idea, but he never thought that someone would actually break into a flower shop.

“On top of that, nothing was stolen.” Kirkland continued, gesturing for the small group to follow him into the store. “According to your… employee,” here he shot an annoyed glance at Francis, “everything is still here. It’s just, well, everything’s been…”

“Destroyed.” Antonio finished for him, freezing in the doorway. He felt Lovino peek over his shoulder to assess the damage, but he couldn’t get his voice to work any further. Most of his flowers had been strewn across the floors, accompanied by shattered pots and broken glass vases. It was a mess of dirt, water, and even a few overturned shelves. It looked like someone had thrown a tantrum, kicking and throwing everything in sight.

“The cash register hasn’t been touched, but almost all of your inventory has been destroyed.” Kirkland said, his voice holding no sympathy, only plain truths.

It felt like a punch directly to the gut, all the air rushing out of Antonio’s lungs as he grappled with the damage done to his beloved little store. Behind him, Lovino placed a shaky hand on his shoulder — a silent show of support.

“If I were to give my opinion on the matter, then I would say this is an exercise in revenge.” Kirkland said, a speculative finger tapping idly at his chin. “Do you have any enemies?”

Antonio shook his head no, still much too shocked to offer a verbal response. He took a step forward, cringing at the crunch of glass underfoot. He looked down to see his vase of wildflowers completely shattered.

“We have insurance on the business, don’t we?” Francis asked worriedly, walking carefully around the shop with wide eyes.

“Not enough to cover this.” Antonio breathed. “Flowers are expensive.”

“There was also a note.” Kirkland said, producing a sheet of paper. “I’ll have to take it as evidence, but you can have a look.”

A note? Well, that sounded oddly familiar. Antonio wordlessly accepted the sheet of paper, once again feeling Lovino shift to read it alongside him. It was a simple typed message, although it was rather vague.

_“I know how you can pay for the damages.”_ Antonio read aloud, brow furrowing in confusion. 

“What does that mean?” Francis asked, taking the note to scrutinize himself.

“I don’t know.” Antonio said softly, his eyes beginning to water the longer he was in the ruins of his precious little store. His livelihood. How in the world was he going to afford the damages?

“Maybe it was a group of delinquents.” Kirkland said thoughtfully. “Damn teenagers get themselves into trouble when they’re bored.”

“Are you sure you don’t have any enemies?” Francis pushed.

Antonio was about to respond when a sharp crunch of glass caught his attention. He turned around, finding that Lovino was inching his way towards the door. Their eyes met, both of them freezing where they stood. Antonio hardly dared to breathe, but was able to get out, “Where are you going?”

Lovino bit at his lower lip, his breathing having gone shallow. He took another step back, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Antonio asked, still unable to so much as move.

“I didn’t mean to, I-” he cut himself off, freezing right in the doorway. Time stopped for just a split second, and in the next moment, Lovino shot out of the store and tore down the sidewalk.

“Shit.” Antonio hissed, not hesitating for an instant before sprinting out of his store after his fiery little vagrant. Lovino was fast, turning sharply down alleyways so quickly that Antonio nearly lost him at multiple points. But he stayed the course, resolving himself to not lose Lovino a second time. 

“Lovino!” Antonio shouted after him.

There was no response, Lovino simply turning down yet another alley. He ran with all the desperation of a rabbit being hunted down by a pack of wolves. It was erratic, his movements abrupt. The dead sprint he was in could hardly last, and indeed he began slowing down after a few frenzied minutes of running.

The chase took them down at least three blocks, and even if Lovino was fast, Antonio was determined. He reached out when he was finally close enough, snagging Lovino by the wrist, “Hey, wait up!”

“Let me go!” Lovino shouted, trying to wrench his wrist away.

Antonio held firm, mentally steeling himself before he dug his heels in the ground and brought them to a screeching halt. It was a miracle they didn’t both go sprawling, but Lovino’s body did jerk forward as he was yanked backwards by his arm. 

“What the fuck, let me go!” Lovino groaned, pulling desperately to try to get away..

Antonio shook his head, keeping the vice-like grip in place, “Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Me! I’m what’s wrong!” Lovino shouted, doubling in his efforts to get away. “Everything always goes to shit in my life, and I have no one to fucking blame but myself!”

“Hey, calm down.” Antonio tried to placate, beginning to pull Lovino closer to him. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“I did what that asshole wanted, so why-” he was cut off by a sob, one that was muffled when he was pulled firmly into Antonio’s chest. 

“It’s okay, just breathe, Lovi.” Antonio said, making sure to keep his grip tight. He had an inkling as to what Lovino was referring to, and it made his skin crawl. There was no question now, he was going to the authorities with this. But he couldn’t focus on that right now, not when he had a distraught Lovino on his hands. “You’re okay, it’ll be fine.”

“It won’t be, though.” Lovino cried, pushing at Antonio’s chest to try and get away. “I’m the reason he went after you, it’s my fault.”

“You’re not responsible for anyone’s actions but your own.” Antonio said with conviction, struggling to keep hold of Lovino as he fought to get away. “Besides, they’re just flowers. This isn’t the end of the world, it’s going to be okay.”

“But that’s your entire livelihood, and I fucking ruined it like I ruin _everything!”_ he shouted in response, now twisting and turning to free himself. “This would never have happened if I just got over my stupid crush and left. I shouldn’t have come back, I _knew_ something like this would happen!”

Antonio frowned, “Don’t say that, Lovi. I’m really happy you came back, and I don’t want you to leave again.”

“Idiot, I’m doing this to protect you!” Lovino yelled. “Just let me leave, it’s for your own good!”

“No.” Antonio said simply, simultaneously tightening his grip. Letting Lovino go just wasn’t an option in his mind, and if it took standing in the middle of this abandoned alleyway for literal hours to convince him of that, then Antonio was willing to do so. “You’re worth more than anything in that store. I’m not letting you go, so please stop trying.”

“Dumbass, just let me… just-” Lovino’s attempts to get away were ebbing, most of his strength sapping away the longer they stood there. “Please let me go.”

Antonio wordlessly shook his head, astounded at the irony of the situation. For literal weeks, he had tried to drive Lovino off his property to no avail. But now it was everything Antonio could do to keep Lovino from running off again, and had the situation been any less serious, he would have laughed.

Lovino was still struggling weakly, but the movements were quickly losing their ferocity. Eventually, the struggle was more for show than any actual attempt to get away, his shoulders beginning to hitch up painfully, “What the fuck is wrong with you? You stupid bastard, I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“You haven’t hurt me, Lovi.” Antonio said, smiling sadly when the feeble attempts to escape finally ceased. “Stop blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault, you can’t just run away every time something in your life goes wrong.”

“You mean when _everything_ in my life goes wrong?” Lovino grit out bitterly. “You’d be better off if I wasn’t here, your store wouldn’t be fucking destroyed.”

“And maybe that’s true.” Antonio conceded, beginning to thread his fingers through Lovino’s hair. “But even if I don’t know what’s going to happen, at least I still have your company.”

Lovino sniffled, pushing his forehead to rest at the crook of Antonio’s neck, “God, you’re so stupid. Seriously, why won’t you let me go?”

“Like I’d let you get away that easily.” Antonio said with a fond roll of his eyes. “I’m not letting go, just get over it.”

Those words must have eased whatever lingering doubt Lovino still held in his mind, his voice shaky when he mumbled, “Idiot.” Then, in an action that caught Antonio completely off guard, he wrapped his arms around his middle in a tight hug. They stood like that for a handful of faltering heartbeats, Lovino eventually finding his voice long enough to say, “I hate how fucking nice you are, it’s not fair.”

Antonio sighed, getting over his own shock in favor of dropping his chin atop Lovino’s head, “I’m really not as nice as you say I am. You’re just not used to decent people anymore, and it makes me so sad.”

“Maybe I don’t deserve decent people.” was the muttered response.

Antonio shook his head, “You deserve to be happy. It’s okay if you don’t believe me right now, we’ll work on it.”

Lovino didn’t respond to that, but he did push lightly against Antonio's chest in an effort to pull away. When Antonio didn’t relinquish his grasp, he grumbled, “Calm down, I’m not going anywhere. I just wanted to…” He let the sentence hang, whatever he was going to say dying on his tongue. 

Antonio was still a little wary, but in the end he did loosen his hold, “Fine, but if you try to run again, remember that I’m faster than you.”

Lovino smiled the faintest bit as he was allowed to take a small step back, “Is that a threat?”

“Absolutely.” Antonio said, his teasing smile not matching the serious tone of voice he was using. “You can try and run, but you’ll never get rid of me.”

“God help me.” Lovino muttered, his smile continuing to grow as he cast his eyes to the ground. “I can’t imagine a worse fate.”

Antonio opened his mouth to retort, maybe to continue in his gentle teasing, when a pair of lips met his own. He jumped in surprise, and especially with the way that Lovino’s hands suddenly twisted into the fabric of his shirt. He stood, stiff as a board, before something in the back of his mind started screaming, _do something, you idiot!_

With just one more moment of hesitation, Antonio snaked an arm around Lovino’s middle and pulled him closer. Then he craned his neck down so Lovino was no longer straining to reach, kissing back with a gentle kind of firmness. He could have sworn he saw stars when Lovino hummed in approval, his body beginning to buzz pleasantly with exhilaration.

Lovino hooked his arms around Antonio’s neck, pulling him further down. The kiss didn’t deepen past that, but the warmth from their bodies pressed flush against each other paired with their galloping heartbeats made Antonio feel like he was on fire nonetheless. Not a thing existed past the two of them, Antonio smiling like a fool into the kiss. The fact that he was smiling so broadly made it difficult to actually reciprocate the kiss properly, and the way he would sporadically giggle didn’t help things either.

“Knock it off, bastard.” Lovino mumbled against his lips.

Antonio couldn’t help it, he started laughing. He just felt so light and stupidly happy, kind of like he was floating. His eyes were still closed, feeling more than seeing the way that Lovino pulled away with an irritated huff.

“Why do I even bother?” he groused, unhooking his arms and taking a step back. 

“I’m sorry, Lovi. It’s just, you’re so cute.” Antonio giggled, any guilt he might have felt blown away when he noticed the deep blush that ran all the way down Lovino’s neck. 

“You’re a dumbass.” he said evenly, arms crossed petulantly over his chest. He looked off to the side, adamantly refusing eye contact.

Antonio was still fighting sporadic little fits of giggles, but he did eventually get enough control over himself to walk over to a still-irritated Lovino and take his face into his hands, “I’m sorry, you just made me really happy is all.”

Lovino didn’t resist when his face was guided back up for another kiss, this one much shorter but no less sweet. They both pulled away red-faced, although Lovino looked a lot less annoyed than he did before, “You really are a dumbass, you know that?”

“So you keep telling me.” Antonio said with a broad smile, offering his hand. It was accepted after a brief time, and he began leading them back towards his store. “Now that we’ve got that out of our systems, how about we go figure out what actually happened.”

Lovino’s gait stuttered, but he didn’t try to run again. His mood seemed to drop at the reminder of why he had run in the first place, some of that earlier guilt returning, “I already know what happened, and it’s my fault.”

“Not your fault.” Antonio instantly replied, interlocking their fingers. “We’ll figure it out together, no more running.”

Lovino bit nervously at his lower lip, casting his eyes to the ground as he was led down the sidewalk, “I won’t run, but… I-I don’t want you to be hurt anymore.”

“Well it's a good thing I’m not hurt then.” Antonio said with a cheeky wink.

Lovino wasn’t amused, “Yeah, but your store is fucking destroyed. How are you going to pay for rent, or food? That’s your entire life, and I ruined it.”

_“You_ didn’t ruin anything.” Antonio said, sparing just a moment to think about things. It was true that his entire livelihood was in shambles, and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to afford the damages. His chest still ached every time he remembered how his flowers had been so callously thrown to the ground, or the crunch of glass underfoot, but he didn’t blame Lovino for it in the slightest. “Look, we’ll figure it out together. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

Lovino shook his head, eyes still fixed on the pavement when he said, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

And Antonio didn’t intend to, but right now they didn’t even know the full picture. First thing’s first, they needed to find out what actually happened. In the distance, Antonio could spot his store, the door still hanging open as it swayed in the wind. He glanced at Lovino, noticing the way his eyes were averted in shame, and tightened the grip he had on his hand. 

Part of Antonio still felt like crying, but he would take everything from here on out in stride. And even if Antonio had a sneaking suspicion that he was targeted specifically because of his relationship with Lovino, he would never blame him for it. They were in it together, and Antonio wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy! Sorry it's been a hot second, but I finally finished this chapter yay!
> 
> Not gonna lie, I'm in a huge rush right now, so this chapter isn't as edited as I'd like it to be. Hope it's alright anyway! Lovi needs to stop running (literally) from his problems lol. Also, Arthur's here! Yay!
> 
> Alrighty, please let me know what you think! I appreciate all of you for reading this, thank you for being just a wonderful community of people! :)


	21. Chapter 21

Antonio led Lovino back to his store, the majority of the trek made in absolute silence. The hush gave him time to think, time to figure out what he was going to do next. Who should he call? Probably his insurance, but then what? It’s not like he ever expected this to happen, that somebody would stoop so low as to destroy a small business — and a flower shop of all things!

It wasn’t fair, and as Antonio stepped back in his store, he spared a moment to mentally lament just how cruel people could be. Everything was gone. Well, not _gone,_ but definitely destroyed. Antonio spotted Francis still talking with the cop, both of them whipping their heads up when they heard him approach.

Relief washed over Francis’ face when he saw that Antonio had returned, some of the tension draining from his shoulders, “There you two are, and here I thought you’ve abandoned me.”

“You wish.” Lovino muttered under his breath.

Antonio just nodded, trying not to scrutinize his store too closely. He was afraid he might cry if he did, so instead he moved to stand behind his desk. He fiddled forlornly with some debris that was on the counter, the crunch of ceramic underfoot like a spike through his heart. Antonio heard more than saw when Lovino moved behind him, sitting down without a word on his bench.

Francis also approached, leaning against the counter with a heavy sigh, “I just got off the phone with our insurance.”

“And?” Antonio said hollowly, already knowing what was next.

“And we’re out a lot of money.” Francis said gently, almost like he could soften the blow by keeping his voice down. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, it wasn’t your fault.” Antonio said, trying (and failing) to offer a convincing smile.

Francis grimaced, drawing breath like he was going to speak, when he was interrupted:

“Alright, I think I have everything I need for now.” Kirkland said, cringing when the crunch of glass accompanied his walk to the door. “If you don’t have any more questions, then I’ll be headed out now.”

Antonio shook his head before he thought of something. He glanced behind him, to where Lovino was sitting silently on the bench. He looked sick to his stomach, probably feeling every bit as shell-shocked as Antonio himself with the horrible turn of events. Even if he said that he wouldn’t try to run again, he still looked incredibly skittish — and rightly so, given the contents of the note they were delivered.

The officer was inching his way out of the building, and suddenly Antonio realized this may be his best chance to say what he really needed to. So, to ensure that Lovino didn’t overhear anything that would probably (most definitely) upset him, Antonio said, “Actually, I do have a question. About the business, that is. Can we talk outside?”

Kirkland nodded, “Sure, I can meet you by my car.”

Antonio moved the sidestep the counter, intent on making this quick. He chanced a glance at Lovino as he left, seeing the suspicious way he watched Antonio leave. It wouldn’t do to have him untrusting of Antonio’s intention, so he offered a small smile, “I’ll be right back. Would you mind picking up behind the desk while I’m gone?”

Although he was still a bit edgy, Lovino nodded. 

With that out of the way, Antonio crunched his way out of his store and onto the sidewalk outside. True to his word, Kirkland was waiting by his car, impatiently tapping his foot. Antonio sped his way over to him, wasting no time before saying, “I know who left the note.”

Kirkland’s eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately dug into his pocket to receive a notebook and pen, “Right, who was it?”

Antonio bit at his bottom lip, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Lovino wasn’t eavesdropping before lowering his voice, “It was the mayor.”

“Sure, now who was it really?” Kirkland asked with a flippant roll of the eyes.

Antonio was just a bit miffed that he was so readily brushed off, “I’m being serious, he’s been targeting my employee.”

One of Kirkland’s eyebrows shot up, clearly intrigued, “That’s quite the accusation.”

“It’s true!” Antonio whisper-yelled, trying to relay the severity of the situation. “Look, I want this to stay anonymous, alright? Just look into it, I’m sure you’ll find something.”

Kirkland gave him a once over, as if he was verifying whether or not the claim was credible. In the end, he nodded. He wrote something down in his notebook before shoving it back in his pocket, “Fine, I’ll see what I can find. I’ll be in contact with you about… well, everything, I suppose.”

“Thank you.” Antonio said, offering a hand to shake.

Kirkland accepted it, “Just doing my job. Oh, and a word of advice.”

“What is it?” 

“Tell that bloody frog not to harass officers of the law.” Kirkland huffed, turning away to hide his blushing face. “It’s unbecoming.”

“Trust me, I know.” Antonio mumbled, glaring over his shoulder, “I’ll have another word with him.”

“Very well. Then here is where I leave you.” Kirkland moved to the driver’s side, offering a short wave as he bent down into his car, “Good luck.”

Antonio watched him go, sighing when he realized that he was going to need every bit of luck offered to him. Hopefully the officer would find something on Price — if the man was so depraved to take advantage of someone nearly half his age, then there were probably other transgressions of character that an investigation would reveal. 

When the officer’s car was fully out of sight, Antonio turned and made his way back inside. Lovino was still behind the counter sweeping up the shattered remains of his livelihood, while Francis had moved behind a shelf, his thumbs a blur as he texted someone on his phone.

With a little scoff of disbelief, Antonio marched his way over to his friend. Once he was right in front of him, he placed his hands on his hips and glared.

It took another handful of seconds, but eventually Francis peered up with a raised eyebrow, “Yes?”

Antonio had to suppress the strong urge to roll his eyes, “Flirting with the cop? Really?”

Francis finally pocketed his phone, crossing his arms petulantly over his chest, “What? It’s not like he was opposed to my advances.”

“Actually, I think he was the definition of _opposed.”_ Antonio said, remembering how flustered the man had been. 

With a little smirk, Francis reached into his pocket and retrieved a slip of paper, “Are you so certain?”

Antonio squinted at it before realizing that there were a series of numbers written down — a phone number. He made the connection a moment later, his jaw dropping open in shock, “But how-”

“I have my ways.” Francis said with an obnoxious wink. “Now, enough about me, what about you?”

Antonio shook his head, still reeling from the fact that his friend managed to woo that stuffy cop, “What about me?”

Francis rolled his eyes, slinging an arm over Antonio’s shoulder before ducking them down beneath the shelf. He carefully leaned to the side of it, peering suspiciously over to Lovino, “Yeah, what’s up with you two?”

Antonio leaned over to get a glimpse at Lovino as he worked, grumbling the faintest bit as his broom scraped harshly against the ground. He really was quite horrible at cleaning, and despite still feeling rather melancholy, Antonio cracked a small smile, “Oh, well he’s living with me now.”

“Is that so?” Francis mumbled, bringing his free hand up to tap contemplatively at his chin. He still had an arm slung around Antonio’s shoulder, and in the next moment he pulled them away from the edge of the shelf so they were effectively hidden behind it. “Did you sleep with him?”

Antonio jerked abruptly away, ripping himself free of his friend’s grasp, “What? No, that’s ridiculous!”

 _“Shh,_ keep your voice down!” Francis whisper-yelled, glancing towards the front desk when the sound of the sweeping broom paused. Only when Lovino started muttering to himself again did Francis turn back around, “Now, please explain to big brother why you two would sleep together and not invite me.”

“Okay, first of all, we didn’t sleep together.” Antonio grumbled, but he did make sure to keep his voice down. “Second of all, you will _never_ be invited!”

“You wound me! After all these years of flirting, you dump me for some stray you found in the gutter!” Francis cried, a hand pushed dramatically to his forehead. 

Antonio rolled his eyes, “Be nice, Lovino’s been through a lot.”

Francis scoffed, leaning in close with watery eyes, “So have I! You have no idea what it’s like watching you two — the sexual tension is nearly enough to suffocate me!”

“Knock it off!” Antonio grumbled, pushing his friend harshly away. “Lovino’s not ready for anything like that, and I don’t want you interfering!”

Francis pouted for just an instant before he realized something. His smile turned wicked, and despite Antonio’s protests, he leaned in close once more, “Interfere with what?”

Antonio could feel the heat on his cheeks, but still he tried to play it cool, “It’s nothing.”

“Oh, but it’s not nothing, is it?” Francis drawled, eyebrows shooting up suggestively. “If I had known you swung that way, I would have been more… _persuasive_ in my attempts to woo you.”

Antonio shuddered, once again having to shove the blond away from him, “Look, I didn’t know either. It’s not like I feel this way about any other guy, it’s just Lovino.”

“How romantic!” Francis cried, giggling like he was a little girl and not a full-grown man. “Well, if you ever need help navigating your newfound sexuality, big brother would be all too happy to-”

“Oi, what are you two idiots doing?” 

Antonio nearly shrieked, whipping his head to the side to see Lovino glowering at them. He had his broom in one hand, the other hand on his hip as his heated gaze shifted between the two of them. Antonio’s heart was racing, and especially under the heat of that stare, “Sorry, Lovi, we weren’t doing anything.”

“Duh, that’s the problem, dumbass.” Lovino said with a heavy roll of the eyes. “You tell me to clean up while you sneak away and start whispering like some fucking teenagers. I thought this was a business, not a goddamn high school!”

“A little on edge, aren’t we?” Francis said with a little smirk. “Perhaps you two should take some time off to-”

“Francis!” Antonio shouted, glaring up at the man with all the disapproval he could muster. “For once in your life, just shut your mouth!”

“Oh, but then you would no longer be able to hear my voice, and that would be a tragedy indeed.”

“Tragedy? More like a miracle.” Lovino mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

Antonio was getting seriously annoyed, and especially when it seemed like Lovino and Francis were about to launch into another petty squabble. He thought that he was entitled to a break, and especially given the disastrous morning he’s had thus far. A nap was definitely in order, he could deal with the fallout of his shattered life when he woke up. So, without thinking further on the issue, Antonio turned to Lovino and held his hand out, “Hey, Lovi, give me your broom.”

“Sure, I’m sick of sweeping anyway.” Lovino said, handing over the broom like he was all too happy to see it go.

Antonio smiled, and then turned to Francis. He held the broom out for him to take, “Since you seem to have nothing better to do than sit on your phone, why don’t you start sweeping while Lovino and I take a break.”

Francis’ jaw dropped, completely aghast, “How cruel! Toni, my love, how could you do this to me?”

“Take the broom, Francis.” Antonio said, keeping his smile sickly sweet.

Francis swiped it from him, now glaring, “Fine, but I expect to be paid overtime for my troubles!”

Antonio’s smile faded, unconsciously glancing around the mess his store had become. He hadn’t really thought of it until now, but there was no way he could afford to pay either of his employees. He didn’t know how he was going to bounce back from this, how much longer he could pay the bills. Maybe a couple months, maybe less. It hurt to think about, so Antonio turned away with downcast eyes, “I don’t know if I can pay you anymore. If you want to leave, I’d understand.”

The forlorn words destroyed the lighthearted atmosphere, like all the lights had gone out in the city, leaving them with nothing to do but wade blindly through the cool darkness. The future was impossibly uncertain, now more so than ever. 

Francis frowned, his teasing attitude completely dissipated. He leaned the broom against the shelf before stepping forward and clapping a heavy hand on his friend’s shoulder. Only when Antonio glanced up did Francis offer a small smile, “I would never leave you at a time like this. Go home and eat something, come back in a little while. I’ll still be here, I promise.”

Antonio nodded, the words taking the edge off the pain that still thrummed dully in his chest, “Thank you. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

“Naturally.” Francis said, pushing him gently away. “Now go, we’ll figure it out later.”

“Yeah…” Antonio chanced one more glance around his store before his eyes found Lovino. He looked incredibly awkward, unsure what to do with himself since there was nobody to fight. He also looked guilty, like the carnage that surrounded them was his fault. That just wouldn’t do, so without thinking it completely through, he reached out and took his hand.

Lovino’s eyes snapped up, but the guarded look on his face melted away when he saw just how genuine Antonio’s smile was, “What are you smiling at, idiot?”

Antonio managed a breathy chuckle at that, “Would you prefer I glare?”

“I would say yes, but then I remember how stupid you look with your face all scrunched up”

“No fair, Lovi!”

“Oh my God, just go!” Francis whined, ushering them both out the door. “I can’t stand this butchered attempt at flirting, and right in front of me, too!”

Antonio laughed more genuinely than he had all day, nodding as he tugged Lovino with him fully out the door, “Fine, we’ll go. I’ll see you in a little while.”

Lovino rolled his eyes, but allowed himself to be pulled along. 

The walk down the sidewalk was much lighter now, even if Antonio had some tension working its way into his shoulders. He was stressed, but not to a breaking point. This wouldn’t be the end of the world, he would find a way to make things better for all their sakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, it's been a hot sec since I updated this, so sorry about that (I really didn't mean to T_T)
> 
> I'm not super stoked with how this turned out, but I am sick of rewriting this so, voila! Hope you like it anyways!
> 
> Alrighty, thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it :)


	22. Chapter 22

It was all his fault. Everything. The guilt was so potent that Lovino nearly choked on it. It didn’t matter that Antonio didn’t seem to blame him at all, Lovino knew that he’d completely ruined his life. For his entire life, Lovino had lamented his lack of skill in anything, always being inferior to his brother or grandfather. But he was quickly coming to the conclusion that he did, in fact, have one skill:

He could single-handedly destroy the life of anyone he got close to.

The realization of that fact tore at Lovino, and he hated with everything in him how cursed his very existence was. It was like he wasn’t allowed to have something as simple as a family, or even just some stupid crush without it all going to hell. He would have run away if only to protect Antonio from further harm, but his attempt earlier had failed spectacularly. Besides that, he was hopelessly attached to Antonio.

Lovino bit at his bottom lip, abusing it between his teeth as he tried to suppress the dangerous well of emotions in his heart. But despite it all, Lovino just couldn’t help but think about the way Antonio never gave up on him, how he refused to let go. It was the way he would constantly reassure Lovino that he wasn’t a bad person, even though he _knew_ he was. Hell, even the way Antonio would smile through the obvious heartbreak of having his livelihood destroyed made butterflies explode in Lovino’s stomach, and he was utterly terrified of hurting him by sticking around.

“Hey, I’m making soup.” called Antonio’s disembodied voice from the kitchen. “Do you have a preference between tomato or chicken?”

“Tomato.” Lovino replied shortly from his place on the couch, hearing a hum of approval as the stove was sparked to life.

Now left more or less alone for the first time since the disastrous morning, Lovino had time to really think about his next move. He wondered how long it would be until Price went after either he or Antonio again, what sort of move the man would make. 

It had been foolish to believe that Price would be satisfied with just one hookup, as if the man hadn’t made explicit his intentions to have complete control over Lovino’s life. Price wanted exclusivity, someone to call on whenever he wanted with no strings attached. Lovino had been that for him, but things were different now — he had something to lose.

At the thought, Lovino glanced up to where he could hear Antonio hum over the stove, like he wasn’t completely devastated. Lovino had seen the look in his eyes when he saw the ruins of his store, how utterly crushed he was. But, kind as he was, Antonio had buried his own hurt to make sure Lovino didn’t feel guilty — even though it was _completely_ his fault that the store got ransacked in the first place. The stupid bastard was too considerate, too caring, and Lovino felt like crying since he knew he could never keep up with such kindness.

And it was in the midst of this all-consuming guilt that Lovino arrived at a crossroads of sorts.

He knew the damage to Antonio’s store was more than he could afford even with insurance, and that he would probably be on the verge of destitution in the next month or so if he didn’t find a sudden source of money. In face of this issue, Lovino had two solutions:

The first was one that he knew Antonio would immediately object to — he could give into Price in hopes that the man still paid as well as he did before. While it was not an option Lovino particularly liked, he could admit that it would be a quick fix. 

But he hesitated to pull the trigger, for the first time seeing the bigger picture. Lovino knew that if he gave into a man that repeatedly abused him, he’d lose not only Antonio’s respect, but whatever self-respect he had left. Lovino had given into blackmail once already with disastrous results. Price would keep taking more and more until he got bored, and Lovino knew that that kind of life would kill him — and perhaps in the most literal sense possible.

He still considered running anyway, if only to free Antonio of his own cursed existence, but he couldn’t help but waver.

The second solution Lovino had was much more feasible, but also incredibly more difficult: he could make up with his family. From an outsider looking in on his situation, it would seem as though the decision was easy, but not to Lovino. It would be _easy_ to return to his old habits, _easy_ to give up on life and simply become a tool once more. Making up with his family, however, seemed impossible.

Lovino loved his family, and wanted more than anything to just hug his grandfather and little brother again. He wanted to laugh with them, get into stupid arguments with Feliciano that they would both apologize for later. Hell, he wouldn’t even mind dealing with his grandfather’s drunken ramblings — at least Lovino would have the love of his family back.

But did Lovino _deserve_ that love? He’d hurt them so badly. What right did he have to just walk back into their lives as if nothing had happened? 

_But that reward…_

And therein lies the rub. Lovino knew there was a reward over his head, and a substantial one at that. If he could convince Antonio to turn him in, then he would benefit directly from his family’s seemingly endless wealth. It was everything Antonio deserved, much more than Lovino himself. Antonio deserved to have stability, to be successful, and all Lovino had to do was give himself up.

“Lunch is ready!” 

Lovino shook himself out of his concentrated musings, pushing himself off the couch. He had to suppress a hiss of pain, his ribs and neck still throbbing from the harsh way he’d been handled a week ago. He was sore, but not in nearly as much pain as he’d been in before. 

Antonio smiled tiredly when Lovino ambled into the kitchen, gesturing to the chair opposite of him, “I thought you fell asleep, you were so quiet in there.”

“I was thinking.” Lovino mumbled, taking his seat. He stared down at his food, his stomach doing strange flips that pretty much eradicated his desire to eat. He felt too guilty, too conflicted to stomach anything right now, but not wanting to reject Antonio’s kindness, he picked up his spoon and choked down some of the soup.

After eating a spoonful himself, Antonio offered a shaky smile, “You must have been thinking pretty hard.”

He sounded nervous, and Lovino thought he knew why, “I’m not planning on running away again, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

_At least, not yet._

Antonio exhaled heavily in relief, “I’m glad. I really don’t want to lose you again, especially after everything that’s happened. It doesn’t hurt so bad when you’re around, y’know?”

 _Goddamn,_ Antonio really had no idea what he did to Lovino. With those words alone, Lovino found that he could hardly even consider running away. Before he had contemplated it, but now it hardly felt like an option anymore.

 _Fuck, I’m in deep._ Lovino thought, having to look away lest his reddening cheeks give him away.

“We should probably go back in a little while.” Antonio continued, unaware of Lovino’s racing thoughts. “It’s not fair to make Francis clean everything up by himself.”

Lovino couldn’t help himself, he rolled his eyes, “Serves the bastard right, maybe he’ll learn not to mouth off.”

Antonio smirked, “You’re one to talk. You know, I’ve never met someone who could fit so many curse words in a single sentence.”

“I consider it one of my few talents.” Lovino said with just the faintest of smiles. “I’m also well-known for my impressive use of sarcasm.”

“You’re quite the charmer.” Antonio chuckled. 

Lovino allowed himself a moment to feel something akin to happiness, all around quite content to forget about his heavy life and just exchange barbs with someone he lov- _liked._ Right, Lovino liked Antonio. 

A lot.

He had to look away, that well of emotions he felt beginning to overwhelm him again. Lovino liked to pretend that he was an aloof vagrant who only looked after himself, but in reality he was as emotionally volatile as they come. He felt too deeply, took things too personally, and reinforced his own negative self-image by engaging in destructive behavior. He wanted to make things better, come clean and settle down somewhere safe, but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to face his family to make that dream a reality.

“Lovino?” 

That was Antonio, voice tinged with concern. It took Lovino another moment, but eventually he looked up, “Sorry, just thinking again.”

“You seem to be doing that a lot.” Antonio said, pasting on a smile, but it was obvious it was fake.

Lovino shrugged, drumming his fingers idly on the table. His brother would be visiting in a week or so, but Antonio still refused to give him a definite date. It would be so easy to reach out to Feliciano then, to bridge the distance between them to begin the process of healing. But how would his brother react to Lovino just appearing out of the blue? Feliciano was so mild-mannered that it was doubtful he would lash out, but Lovino also didn’t want him to feel obligated to make up with him just because he felt like he had to. 

“What are you thinking about?” Antonio asked.

Lovino sighed, realizing belatedly that he was being rather rude. He brought another spoonful of soup to his lips, just to give him another moment before he would inevitably have to explain his sudden silence. After properly savoring the soup for a moment longer, he finally said, “Just about what to do next, I guess.”

Antonio nodded, threading his fingers through some of the loose curls atop his head. It seemed to be a nervous gesture, one that was only reinforced when he pasted on another smile, “Yeah, me too. I’ll have to order some more flowers to make up for the losses, but I don’t know if they’ll get here before the holidays.”

“What about what you had in the back?” Lovino asked.

“I mean, there’s some pots and stuff, but not flowers.” Antonio mumbled, the crease between his brows indicating he was really trying to think it through. “I guess that helps a little, but who wants a vase without a flower?”

Lovino felt a wave of guilt crash into him, and without really thinking it through he reached out and took Antonio’s hand in his own, “Antonio, I’m so-”

“Please don’t apologize to me.” Antonio cut in, rubbing his thumb in a soothing manner over the back of Lovino’s hand. “I already told you, it’s not your fault.”

But it was, and the way Antonio refused to acknowledge it made Lovino feel even worse. He knew how well it was going to go over, but he couldn’t resist saying, “Look, I know you don’t blame me, but I do. I really think it would be best for you if I left, and-”

“Stop that.” Antonio said with a defined little pout, simultaneously tightening the grip he had on his hand. “What part of, _I like you,_ do you not understand?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“I’ll say it again. I like you, Lovino.” Antonio said with just a tinge of exasperation. “I like you a lot, and I’m starting to feel like it’s one-sided.”

Lovino immediately shook his head, eyes wide when he realized that his constant attempts to leave might actually hurt Antonio’s feelings. That was the last thing he wanted, and he immediately tried to set the record straight, “It’s not. _Dio,_ Antonio, trust me, it’s not.”

“Then why are you so set on leaving?” Antonio asked, something like dejection coloring his tone. 

Lovino recoiled on instinct, removing his hand from the grip Antonio had on it without really meaning to. It wasn’t his intention to act so rudely, but his knee jerk reaction to confrontation was to run. But then he saw the flash of hurt in Antonio’s eyes at what probably felt like a rejection. Lovino internally cursed himself before nervously taking Antonio’s hand again, “Sorry, force of habit.”

He didn’t specify what he was apologizing for, but Antonio seemed to understand anyway, “It’s okay, we’ll work on that.”

Lovino allowed a ghost of a smile on his lips, “You keep saying that, I don’t think you realize what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I don’t mind.” Antonio said, some of the tension from earlier beginning to dissipate. “As long as it’s you, I don’t mind.”

“Goddammit.” Lovino mumbled, his face ablaze at the tender words. The stupid bastard always knew what to say, it just wasn’t fair. There really was no option now, Lovino was going to have to make up with his family. Even if Lovino himself didn’t deserve it, Antonio did. He deserved so much more than what Lovino could give, but he supposed a shit-ton of money was a good place to start.

Antonio squeezed his hand before finally releasing it, returning to his soup with a little chuckle, “You look like a tomato.”

Lovino pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, but for once didn’t immediately bite back. There was too much on his mind, the implications of this decision being at the forefront. How would his brother react to seeing him? Would he be met with disdain? Hate? Indifference? It’d been nearly a year, Lovino was a completely different person now. How could he ever adequately explain how he’d fallen into such a pitiful state? How could he ever make it up to his brother for what he put him through? Would his grandfather welcome him back?

_Was this a bad idea?_

Antonio sighed, “You’re thinking again.”

“Yeah, maybe you should give it a try some time.” Lovino grumbled, even if his voice lacked its normal bite.

“Well, what are you thinking so hard about?” Antonio huffed, rolling his eyes in a way that was undeniably fond.

Lovino thought about how he should answer, wondering if it was best to stew on his decision a little longer before committing himself. But then, if he told Antonio, he would keep Lovino accountable. He needed that, otherwise he just _knew_ he’d back out at the last minute. Besides, it would cheer Antonio up from his dreadful morning, and Lovino couldn’t deny that it made him feel giddy with happiness when he was the reason that Antonio smiled.

With a short nod to himself, Lovino looked up and committed, “I was just thinking about what I should say to my brother when he gets here.”

Antonio froze, mouth slightly agape as he processed what Lovino just said. His mouth moved around words that didn’t quite come out, and it took another few seconds of silence before he finally found his voice, “Are you serious?”

Lovino smiled, however shaky it was, and nodded.

Antonio launched himself out of his seat and scooped Lovino up into a hug before he had a chance to react, “That’s wonderful, Lovi! I’m so proud of you, I know how much you miss your family!”

Lovino struggled halfheartedly, his feet only barely brushing against the floor as Antonio held him tight. Briefly, Lovino noted that Antonio didn’t even seem to grasp the reason _why_ Lovino was willing to reconcile with his family. He was just happy for Lovino, there was no other reason in his mind. No thoughts of money, no ulterior motive.

_Stupid bastard, this is for you! Always for you!_

“This is great!” Antonio laughed, setting the smaller carefully down in front of him. “Do you want me to call ahead so Feliciano knows you’re here?”

Lovino shook his head, “No. I still need time to figure out what I’m going to tell him.”

“Okay, I understand.” Antonio said, his smile causing his cheeks to scrunch cutely up. “I’m just really happy for you.”

“I will never understand you.” Lovino deadpanned, his face blank despite the flurry of butterflies that assaulted the inside of his stomach. It felt good to have the approval of someone he cared so deeply for, and for the first time he felt affirmed in his decision. 

Antonio clapped his hands together before moving back to his seat. He didn’t sit, instead he reached down and brought the bowl of soup to his lips. He downed his food quickly, setting the bowl down with a contented sigh, “Alright, we should probably go back soon. You better eat up!”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Fine, I guess we have to help the fuckface eventually.”

Antonio hummed in response, a slight bounce in his step as he deposited his empty bowl in the sink. He gestured wordlessly for Lovino to eat, only disappearing down the hallway when his request was finally heeded. 

He seemed so energized, his mood doing a complete one-eighty, the fact only making Lovino feel more secure in his decision. He was scared, dear God, Lovino was terrified of seeing his brother. But at the end of the day, he had Antonio, and that alone was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I didn't take so long for the update this time :D
> 
> I really like writing Lovino's POV, honestly it's just so easy for me (maybe cuz I tend to overthink everything too oof). But anyways! Yay! Lovino made a good decision! Hopefully it ends up well for him :)
> 
> I really hoped you liked the chapter, let me know if you did! (why yes, I am shamelessly asking for comments at this point, don't @ me)
> 
> Love y'all so much, stay safe!


	23. Chapter 23

Cleaning up the devastation of Antonio’s small store was an arduous task, but they were slowly but surely making progress. No longer did the crunch of ceramic sound underfoot when someone entered the store, nor were there flowers strewn chaotically across the floor. Antonio had even found an undamaged vase in the back, and had promptly stuck three flowers there — each a dandelion he had found growing through the cracks — before placing it in the window. 

Indeed, the store looked less like a tornado had blown through it, and more like it was just severely lacking in inventory. Which it was. 

With a sigh, Antonio swept up the last of the broken glass in the dustbin and deposited it in an already overflowing trash bag. He’d have to be careful when he disposed of this particular bag, the shards of the shattered vases and terracotta pots posing a real danger. One wrong slip, and someone would hurt themselves. It would certainly be a painful injury, but Antonio wasn’t particularly clumsy-

 _“God-fucking-dammit!”_ Lovino shouted, recoiling from the very trash bag Antonio was contemplating. He was holding his hand close to his chest, spitting profanities at the poor bag. “The same fucking hand!”

Antonio dropped his broom, hiding a smirk as he approached the fuming Italian, “Here, let me see.”

Begrudgingly, Lovino offered his hand up, “I was just trying to move the stupid bag.”

“Well, there was your first mistake.” Antonio said lightly, finding this cut was in very much the same place as the last time he sliced his hand open. It really was incredible how clumsy Lovino was, and it would almost be endearing had it not ended up so gruesome each time. “You’re lucky, it’s not very deep.”

Lovino pouted, watching as some blood welled up in his palm, “I was just trying to help.”

Antonio smiled, heart swelling warmly in his chest at how well-meaning Lovino really was behind that tough exterior, “I know, thank you.”

It seemed as though Lovino was about to respond when Francis deemed it time to grace his obnoxious presence upon the two. “My, my, it seems our dear Lovi is a danger to himself.”

Lovino glared, pulling his hand back to his chest, “Don’t call me that.”

Francis rolled his eyes, but didn’t prod further. Instead, he turned to Antonio and offered his phone, “Arthur is on the phone for you, darling, he says it’s urgent”

Antonio accepted the device, absently wondering exactly when Francis had gotten on a first name basis with the stuffy cop. But before he brought the phone to his ear, he addressed Lovino, “Do you remember where the bandages are?”

Lovino’s cheeks heated up in a deep blush, nodding once, “Yeah.”

“Making this a habit, are we?” Francis muttered lowly.

Antonio silenced him with a sharp glare, ushering Lovino away before it could become an all-out argument, “Just grab a bandage from the back.”

Although Lovino looked ready to verbally berate a certain Frenchman, he complied. He stomped towards the back room, muttering in swift Italian under his breath the entire way. 

Even if Antonio knew he was being rude by ignoring the officer on the phone, he couldn’t help but admonish his friend, “Do you really have nothing better to do than provoke him?”

“Not really, no.” Francis said, flipping his golden hair over his shoulder. 

Antonio glared, pointing at the dangerous shard-filled trash bag, “You know where the dumpster is.”

With a drawn-out sigh, Francis carefully took hold of the bag and walked towards the door. But before he left, he called over his shoulder, “Do tell Arthur that I miss him terribly. It would be nice if he bothered to text me back.”

“Go.” Antonio said shortly, bringing the phone up to his ear to finally acknowledge the officer. “Sorry, this is Antonio speaking.”

“Finally, and here I thought you’d keep me waiting all afternoon.” Kirkland huffed, the sound of papers rustling accompanying the annoyed greeting.

Antonio sighed, absently massaging one of his temples with his free hand, “Yeah, sorry again. My employees can be kind of unmanageable.”

“If you’re talking about that bloody frog, then I feel rather inclined to agree with you.” Kirkland said. “But putting that aside, I have a question to ask you.”

“Go for it.” Antonio said.

“How the devil did you know about the mayor’s transgressions?”

Antonio briefly looked over his shoulder, making sure Lovino hadn’t returned before saying bluntly, “Let’s just say I had an inside source.”

Kirkland made a little hum of disbelief, once again rustling those papers, “Well, whoever you got your information from should have come to us. We haven’t found anything major, but we already have quite the scandal on our hands.”

 _Good,_ Antonio thought, satisfied that karma was finally about to catch up to that horrid man.

“That being said,” Kirkland continued, “it would help us immensely if whoever your source was came forward and gave us some details on what they know.”

Antonio’s stomach dropped, simultaneously turning around when Lovino emerged from the back, hand freshly wrapped. It wasn’t likely that Lovino would agree to stepping forward and exposing Price for his disgusting actions, and Antonio didn’t know if he should even bring it up. 

“Of course, you always have the option of keeping this anonymous.” Kirkland said, perhaps sensing Antonio’s hesitance. “But if we can’t find any concrete evidence or testimonies, this case is going nowhere.”

Antonio bit nervously at his bottom lip, turning away from Lovino for fear of betraying his own anxiety. He’d have to approach this delicately, but right now wasn’t the time to do so. “I can ask, but honestly, I’m not confident that they’ll come forward.”

Kirkland sighed, “Very well. If they change their mind, please give me a call.”

“I will.” Antonio said, sneaking a glance back to see Lovino leaning against the counter with a bored expression. “I’ll try to get through to him, he’s just been through a lot.”

“I understand.” Kirkland said solemnly, clearly used to such responses. “That’s all I needed, do you have any questions for me?”

Antonio shook his head to himself before he noticed his other employee walk in. Francis looked annoyed, scowling at his hands where there were a few shallow scratches there. Out of curiosity, Antonio pulled the phone away from his ear and saw that he was indeed holding Francis’s phone. Perhaps feeling just a spark of mischief, Antonio smirked, “Actually, I do have one question.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you calling on Francis’s phone?” Antonio asked, nearly laughing when Francis whipped his head up at the sound of his name. 

Kirkland sputtered inelegantly, a few words that were immediately aborted halfway through escaping his lips before he could piece together his indignant response, “The bloody frog wouldn’t stop harassing me, his contact just came up first when I remembered I needed to call you.”

Antonio did laugh this time at the weak response, “Mm-hm, sure. Well, Francis politely asks for you to answer his texts.”

Francis smiled, sauntering his way over and plucking the phone directly from Antonio’s grasp. The disgruntled protests of the officer could be heard even as Francis walked away, but it was cut abruptly off when the blond said, “My darling, I have longed to hear your voice all day long. I must say, it’s just as beautiful now as it was last night.”

Antonio exchanged a shocked glance with Lovino, both of them gaping at the Frenchman.

Francis sent a wink their way, taking his conversation deeper into the store and further out of earshot. 

“What the fuck…” Lovino breathed, shaking his head in disbelief. He looked up to Antonio, pointing to where Francis had disappeared behind a shelf, “How did that ugly bastard land a date with the cop?”

Antonio let out a sharp bark of laughter, not bothering to cut it off in his amusement, “He’s persistent. Maybe not charming, but _definitely_ persistent.”

“Excuse you!” Francis yelled from behind the shelf.

Both Antonio and Lovino chuckled after him, enjoying the brief moment of levity. It was a welcome reprieve, the past three days being altogether too heavy. It reminded Antonio that some things would never change, and that in and of itself was a comfort.

Lovino’s small smile remained on his face, leaning forward to rest his head in his hand, “You two are so fucking stupid, you know that?”

The way he said it sounded more like a compliment. Antonio was quickly getting used to Lovino’s brand of flattery, finding that he had a very special way of expressing his affection. He smiled, moving to stand on the other side of the counter to face Lovino directly, “If we’re stupid, then what are you for dealing with us?”

“Fucking insane.” Lovino answered at once, shaking his head to himself. “But then again, my family’s crazy, too. I’ve had a lot of practice.”

There was just a bit of tension evident in his voice when he mentioned his family, and Antonio’s own smile faded. He knew how nervous Lovino was, but thus far he’s remained resolute in his decision to come clean to his family. Antonio was proud of him, and he reached out to put his hand over Lovino’s, “What do you mean that your family’s crazy?”

Lovino looked down at their hands, his eyes glazing over as he was pulled back into some kind of memory, “Well, my brother’s a complete airhead — kind of like you.”

Antonio pouted, but wasn’t given the chance to respond before Lovino continued in his reminiscing:

“He could never sit still, not even in church.” Lovino smiled the faintest bit. “He always kept a drawing pad on him, just to keep his hands busy. My grandpa was always his biggest supporter, and sometimes I feel guilty because I know I could’ve been more supportive.”

“What about your grandpa?” Antonio prompted quickly, not giving Lovino the chance to wallow in his guilt.

Lovino snorted, “The old man is a fucking handful, but I really can’t complain. I owe him everything.”

Antonio chuckled, noticing the blatant amusement that colored Lovino’s tone, “Why is he a handful?”

“He’s a drunk.” Lovino laughed, bright and unrestrained. “Stupid geezer would always drink too much wine, and I would have to take care of his ass. He loved wine so fucking much that he started his own brand.”

“That’s commitment.” Antonio said, enamored with Lovino’s smile, and wanting with all of his being to keep it there for as long as possible. “I mean, I like wine as much as the next guy, but starting your own brand?”

Lovino rolled his eyes, “Yeah, tell me about it. They’re both crazy, but they’re still all I have.”

Antonio didn’t like the way Lovino’s tone soured, like he was still consumed by guilt. It wouldn’t do to have him second-guessing himself, not now that he was a mere week away from finally setting things straight. So Antonio interlocked their fingers, only speaking when Lovino looked up at him, “Well, now you have me, too. Whatever happens next week, I’ll still be on your side.”

Lovino fought to maintain eye contact, but in the end it was a losing battle. He looked away, shoulders slumping dejectedly, “Look, whatever happens, I need you to promise me one thing.”

“Sure, what is it?” Antonio asked, trying in vain to catch those elusive eyes. 

“Just…” Lovino sighed, retracting his hand to cross his hands defensively over his chest. “I don’t know if things are going to be the same between me and my family, but that’s not important. I know my grandpa’s offering a shit ton of money for my return, and I want you to take it.”

Antonio froze for a moment, having completely forgotten about the ludicrous amount of money that was being offered for Lovino’s return. He started shaking his head, not wanting to accept the money if only because it made Lovino an object — something to be bargained with.

“I know what you’re thinking, and it’s stupid.” Lovino huffed. “Just accept the money when it’s offered to you, okay? I want you to, it’ll help you afford all these damages.”

Well, that was a thought. Antonio looked around his store, almost bare now that he’d thrown away all his damaged inventory. It would certainly be a relief to accept that kind of money, but he was still just a little uncomfortable taking that amount of cash, “I don’t know, I mean, that’s a lot of money, and-”

Lovino’s chuckle is what cut Antonio off, a smirk on his face, “That’s not a lot of money. At least, not for my family.”

“Are you sure?” Antonio asked nervously, still a little uneasy about it. 

“I want you to do this.” Lovino said with all the sincerity he could muster. “This is something I can actually do for you, and dammit you’re going to accept it!”

Antonio put his hands up, finally backing down, “Alright, I’ll think about it. You have to understand, Lovi, I don’t want you to feel like I’m just using you for money.”

The back and forth squabbling might have continued for longer, but the shuffling of someone making their way closer drew their attention away from their small argument. Antonio looked over his shoulder, finding Francis standing rather meekly behind him. His eyes were not gleaming with their normal mischievous glint, but with something akin to guilt. HIs phone was gripped loosely in his hand, and he refused to let his gaze drift to Lovino.

Antonio felt his skin crawl, turning completely around to address his friend, “What happened?”

Francis abused his lower lip between his teeth before attempting to offer a faltering smile, “My apologies, but I may have let something slip.”

“What are you talking about?” Antonio asked slowly, uneasily.

“Well, I was talking to Gil, and I may have mentioned what happened to the store…” 

“You didn’t tell him about Lovino, did you?” Antonio asked sharply, hearing a sharp intake of breath behind him. 

Francis put his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture, “No, of course not!”

Antonio breathed a sigh of relief, but he still had the feeling that something was wrong, “Okay, so what did you do?”

“Nothing!” Francis said, scoffing indignantly at the two pair of disbelieving eyes fixed on him. _“I_ didn’t do a thing, Gil insisted.”

“Just get to the point already.” Antonio said.

“Fine.” Francis said, still adamantly avoiding eye contact with Lovino. “Gil said he wanted to help out with the store, so he, his brother, and Feliciano are flying down a little early.”

“What?” Lovino hissed, marching around the counter to stare the blond down. He looked mildly panicked, his expression beginning to crumple in his distress. “They’re supposed to be here _next week!”_

“Well, originally, yes. But now...”

“When?” Antonio asked shortly, somehow anticipating the next part.

“They’ll be here tomorrow.”

It took a moment or two for the response to process, but once it did, Lovino’s face drained of all color. He snaked an arm around his stomach, turning sharply on his heel to retreat swiftly to the back room. There was the sound of the bathroom door being slammed shut, and then it was silent.

“Tomorrow?” Antonio whispered, glancing to where Lovino disappeared in concern. “So soon?”

Francis nodded guiltily, “I know Lovino wanted more time to think about things, but you know how Gil gets. I couldn’t stop him.”

“Shit.” Antonio mumbled, running a hand through his hair. He turned to follow Lovino into the back, afraid that this new turn of events would inspire him to flee again. He stomped right up to the bathroom door, rapping his knuckles sharply against the faded wood, “Lovi, are you okay?”

A muffled groan filtered through, followed by what sounded like a dry heave. His nervousness had probably exploded, the anxiety of having to face his brother so suddenly causing his stomach to heave.

Antonio sighed, leaning his back against the wall as he waited. Eventually, all sounds in the bathroom completely ceased, the tension so thick Antonio thought he might choke on it. When it seemed as though Lovino intended to stay in there indefinitely, Antonio called out, “Are you going to be okay?”

Lovino groaned again, but he did answer verbally, “I just… tomorrow? Did they really have to come _tomorrow?”_

“I’m sorry.” Antonio said, threading his fingers through his hair again. “But now you can get it out of the way, right?”

“Sure.” Lovino mumbled, sounding so intensely unsure that Antonio wanted to do nothing more than reach out to him. “God, what am I going to say?”

“We’ll figure it out.” Anotnio said, tapping his foot rapidly on the floor in his anxiousness. The most important thing right now was to keep Lovino calm. He had this unfortunate habit of running whenever something didn’t go his way, and Antonio didn’t want to deal with that again. “But remember, I won’t leave you. Whatever happens tomorrow, you’ll still have me.”

All was deathly silent for a handful of minutes, and had Antonio not seen the shift of shadows underneath the door, he would have thought that Lovino had completely frozen up in his panic. But then, those dancing shadows grew in size, the sound of the door clicking open nearly causing Antonio to jump. There, behind just a sliver of open space, were a pair of shining hazel eyes.

“Do you promise?” Lovino whispered.

It took Antonio a moment to respond, his heart skipping a beat at the amount of vulnerability in that gaze. But then he remembered what he had said, and it was the most genuine of smiles that Antonio said, “Of course I promise. You’ll always have a place with me as long as you want it.”

The door was pushed further open until Lovino stood tensely in the doorway. He nodded once, apparently reassured for the time being. He still had a hand wrapped securely on his middle, but he consciously tried to push a smile on his face. 

Antonio smiled back, “It’ll go fine, I’ll be right next to you the whole time.”

Lovino nodded, taking in a shuddering breath before taking a step forward. Although he looked ill to the point of collapsing, his voice was steady, “You better fucking mean that, bastard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Here's a new chapter for you, and it seems that things are unravelling even more quickly than we thought!
> 
> I really hoped you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what you think of it! I appreciate all of you for reading this far, and thank you for making this fic so much fun to write.
> 
> Love y'all, have a good day/night!


	24. Chapter 24

It was cold, not even the sun was enough to drive away the horrid chill that settled over the city like a sheet of ice. The air was crisp, just bordering on sharp enough to hurt with every intake of breath. Frost crept up the windows like claws, and there were even a few wayward snowflakes beginning to drift through the air before immediately disappearing on the pavement below.

It was cold, much colder than what Feliciano was used to, but he could care less. He’d grown too comfortable in his cramped little apartment, it was nice to get out for once.

“Damn, this weather fucking sucks.” growled an albino man, rubbing his mittened hands quickly together.

Feliciano absently nodded, brushing his reddish-brown hair to the side when a few snowflakes landed there. 

Acting as a human furnace to his side, was Ludwig. He was big, the heat that radiated off his body enough to keep Feliciano nice and warm despite the chill. Ludwig kept one of Feliciano’s hands in his own, rolling his crystalline blue eyes at his brother’s antics. “I told you to bring your winter coat.”

“This is my winter coat, though!” Gilbert whined, clutching his beat up jacket closer to his frame. “Besides, it doesn’t usually start snowing for another month!”

Feliciano chuckled, watching some of the dazzling white flakes float lazily down. Some of the snow started to accumulate, like diamonds grinded down to a fine powder. “I wish we got more snow at home, I think it’s pretty.”

“We get plenty of snow, it just comes later.” Ludwig remarked. Then he turned towards his brother, “But you’re right, it is cold. Are we almost there?”

Gilbert nodded, his teeth clattering when he answered. “Yeah, just another block or so.”

Feliciano was almost disappointed, having rather enjoyed their walk through the city despite the wretched chill. It was a nice area, even if it wasn’t nearly as big as the city where he was from. But this city held a certain charm, whether due to the multi-ethnic nature of some of the suburbs, or just the old buildings that withstood the test of time, Feliciano couldn’t really tell.

Some of those buildings Feliciano took particular note of. Most were constructed of coarse, red brick, standing proudly despite their age. The graffiti that decorated them was nothing obscene or distasteful — Feliciano would be more inclined to call it street art. Emerald ivy leaves, most of them dead, creeped up the side of many buildings, and quite a few signs that hung in the windows of the various businesses were chipped and faded. 

Even the pavement had character, cracked in areas, but not uneven enough to trip on. Feliciano even spotted a dandelion or two, and he couldn’t help but smile after the small flowers. He’d already fallen in love with this part of town, and was excited to see more. But they couldn’t play tourist all day. No, they had more important things to do.

Feliciano frowned, looking down the street where he knew Gilbert’s friend was still reeling from the aftermath of the break-in. He’d met Antonio and Francis very briefly over the phone, and thought them nice enough. It was a shame that something so horrible had happened to them. 

“Are you okay?” Ludwig muttered.

Feliciano pushed a smile onto his face, nodding once. “Yeah, sorry. I just feel so bad that someone would break into a flower shop.”

“It’s fucked.” Gilbert growled. “Nobody can do that to my friends and hope to get away with it.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Ludwig asked, sending a pointed look his brother’s way. “They don’t know who did it.”

Gilbert pouted, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. “I don’t know, but I’ll find them. I’ll make them pay.”

Ludwig simply rolled his eyes, but let the matter rest.

They walked on a while longer in silence, some of those flakes beginning to fall a little faster. Across the street, Feliciano saw an Italian restaurant, and vaguely he wondered if it was any good. 

_Probably not,_ he quickly decided. Feliciano was a bit of a snob when it came to food, he’d grown up with some of the finest dishes courtesy of his grandfather. Still, maybe he shouldn’t be so quick to judge. 

Finally, they reached their destination. It was a quaint little building, ivy climbing up one of the sides, and a large window with an _open_ sign making the business seem warm and inviting. There was even a vase of flowers visible from where they stood on the pavement. Outwardly, everything looked fine — nothing more than a regular business.

If only Feliciano didn’t know what happened. A frown tugged on his lips.

“Alright, Toni says that they’re already here.” Gilbert said, making his way quickly to the door. “You ready to meet my best friends?”

“Yeah!” Feliciano said excitedly, pulling Ludwig along by the hand as the door was thrown wide open.

* * *

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can, it’ll be fine.”

“I _can’t.”_

“Stop saying that, it’ll be alright!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Lovi, you need to-”

“If you tell me I need to fucking breathe-”

“Well, you do!”

“I am breathing!” Lovino shouted, even as he struggled to pull in the required amount of air to function. “I’m the best at breathing, I’m better at fucking breathing than you, _dammit!”_

Antonio put his hands out in a placating gesture. “Alright, I get it. But I really need you to try and stay calm.”

_“I am calm!”_

“Clearly not.”

Lovino buried his face in his hands, trying to choke back a pained groan of distress. He was currently focused on not tearing a hole through his bottom lip, his teeth digging harshly into the soft flesh. He was behind the front counter, foregoing the bench he used to sleep on in favor of the cold tile below. He found that the coolness of the tile calmed his nerves, if only by a little bit. 

Antonio was kneeling in front of him, hands hovering awkwardly in the space between them. “It’ll go okay, I promise.”

“Will it?” Lovino bit out, feeling his heart hammering harshly against his chest. It was painful, but not as painful as the paralyzing fear of rejection he was suffocating on.

“Yes, it’ll be fine.” Antonio said, doing his best to sound reassuring. 

Too bad Lovino didn’t feel like being reassured right then. “What am I going to tell him? _‘Oh, hey, Feli! Long time, no see!’”_ Lovino said sarcastically. _“‘How have you been after I fucked up our family? Because I had a breakdown and became a fucking prostitute!’”_

Antonio flinched at the biting sarcasm, finally clapping a heavy hand on Lovino’s shoulder to try and calm him down. “Just start with _hi,_ okay?”

Lovino choked on a bark of laughter, even if he didn’t feel much like laughing. “Yeah, okay. And then assuming he doesn’t go off on me, I can ask how he’s been, or what he thinks about the weather! Completely normal, right?”

“Come on, it won’t be that bad!” Antonio tried.

“No, it’ll be worse.” Lovino said, his stomach doing odd flips. He hadn’t been able to eat that morning from sheer nerves, but it still felt like he was about to vomit. “He’s going to blame me, I just know it. God, I can’t do this!”

At the last shout, Lovino shot straight up, forcing Antonio to scramble up to avoid getting hit in the process. Lovino turned, having every intention to rush into the bathroom and locking himself away indefinitely, when something made him freeze.

There were voices outside the store, one of them painfully familiar. 

His brother was here.

 _Shit!_ Lovino mentally panicked, shifting his eyes wildly around as he tried to pinpoint an escape. He sidestepped the counter despite Antonio’s protests, ready to put his plan of hiding away into action when the door was thrown open.

Lovino froze. In the doorway stood three men — an albino with scarlet eyes and an impossibly grating voice, a bulky man with an exasperated expression and neat blond hair, and… and Feliciano.

Oh God, his brother was here, and Lovino was frozen in the middle of the store! He couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Hell, he wasn’t even breathing, time had ceased to exist altogether.

And then their eyes met. 

At first, Feliciano didn’t react. His eyes simply grazed over Lovino like he was just any other person. But then, a spark of recognition lit up his deep, amber eyes. He squinted in concentration, denial coloring his expression. Feliciano seemed just as frozen as Lovino, their surroundings falling away before the situation could explode. 

Lovino was quickly realizing that his window for hiding away had closed. There was nothing for it now, he was going to have to say something. What exactly he should say, he didn’t know, but in the end, he took Antonio’s advice and opened up with a short, _“Ciao, Feli.”_

It was a short fuse, and Lovino lit it with those simple words alone. And then, that ticking time bomb detonated.

 _“Idiota!”_ Feliciano screamed, his face turning a bright scarlet hue. Lovino flinched sharply back, ready to retreat, but wasn’t given the chance. Feliciano stomped forward, grabbing Lovino by either one of his shoulders and started shouting in his face. _“Come hai potuto farmi questo? Bastardo!”_

Lovino ducked his head, knowing he deserved the harsh language. Feliciano was normally so mild-mannered, but this must have been too much for even him to handle. Lovino nearly yelped when the grip on his shoulders suddenly turned painful, but resolved himself to endure it.

“How could you do that to us? To me?” Feliciano pleaded, beginning to roughly shake his shoulders. “Why would you run? _Idiota!”_

Lovino flinched at the way his brother’s fingers dug into his shoulders, sniffling when a few tears threatened to break free. This was exactly what he was afraid of: condemnation. The guilt he had been swimming in for the better part of the year came in like a tidal wave, threatening to drown him completely. 

“You hurt us so bad, and for what?” Feliciano shouted down at him, standing a few centimeters taller than the elder. “For your pride? Because you felt bad?”

Lovino was beginning to hyperventilate, his chest feeling tight with emotion. A few tears blazed hot trails down his cheeks, but he was unable to wipe them away as trapped as he was in Feliciano’s grasp. Lovino squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the disdain in his little brother’s face, nor hear the disgust there. Feliciano drew breath to speak again, causing Lovino to turn away since he just knew that another insult sat at the tip of his tongue, and-

“I can’t believe you ran away. _Dio santo,_ Lovi, we’ve missed you so much.” Feliciano’s voice cracked on the last word, and in the next moment he pulled his brother forward and crushed him to his chest. 

Lovino’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes snapped open in surprise, unable or unwilling to believe what his brother was saying. He stood rigid in the hug, managing to force out a bewildered, “What?”

Feliciano sniffled, his bottom lip trembling so terribly that his voice shook, “We’ve been looking for you for _months!_ Oh my God, we thought you were dead!”

“Feli, I-”

“Why didn’t you call us?” he shouted, burying his face into Lovino’s shoulder. Feliciano’s next words were muffled, but no less sharp in their hurt. “Why didn’t you write to us? Anything, Lovi, _anything_ would have been enough. We didn’t know what happened to you!”

Lovino was finally able to snap out of the initial shock of seeing his brother again, reaching his arms up slowly to grip Feliciano back. Tears of his own were starting to fall, but he managed to hold onto coherency. “I’m sorry, I never wanted to hurt you.”

“But why?” Feliciano asked, still hiding his face away in his brother’s shoulder. “Why would you run away?”

“I didn’t want to, I-I just-”

“Are you okay?” Feliciano abruptly asked, simultaneously pulling away. He still gripped Lovino’s shoulders as he ran his eyes over his body in search of injury. “Your face is bruised! What happened? Oh God, where have you been living? Have you been eating?”

“I’m fine, Feli.” Lovino mumbled, but allowed his brother to fuss over him.

“You look skinny.” Feliciano noted, making a displeased sound at the back of his throat before nodding once to himself. “That’s okay, we can go home right now. I’m sure _Nonno_ would whip something up for you.”

Lovino resisted when Feliciano tried to tug him forward by the hand, his heart rate doubling at the mere mention of their grandfather. “I can’t, I-”

Feliciano only pulled harder, “Yes, you can, Lovi. You’ve been missing for a _year,_ we’re going back home.”

“Ten months. And Feli, I really-”

 _“No!”_ Feliciano yelled, releasing his hand in favor of whipping around. The glare on his face was fierce, a perfect depiction of all the hurt he’d been put through on account of Lovino’s actions. “You are coming home, and we’re leaving right _now!”_

“I-I can’t.”Lovino shook his head, glancing to his side to see their shocked audience looking mutely on. Antonio in particular looked frozen, and Lovino mentally urged him to come to his rescue. But alas, Antonio could only stare in shock. With no help forthcoming, Lovino turned back to his brother and tried to reason. “Feli, I can’t go back right now. Please, you don’t understand.”

Feliciano scoffed, “No, I don’t think _you_ understand! You have no idea how much we’ve missed you, how much this hurt us! I cried every night for _weeks!”_

Lovino flinched at the pure hurt in his brother’s voice. He felt something thrum dully in his chest, something like heartbreak. “So did I.”

There was silence left in the wake of that simple admission, the only sound being the ragged breathing of both brothers as they tried to come down from their pent-up emotions. Lovino scrubbed harshly at both his eyes, trying desperately to rub away the tears there. 

Feliciano was in a similar state of dishevelment, but he was able to snap out of it quickly. With one last sniffle, he reached both arms out in front of him in a silent request. 

It took only a moment for Lovino to acquiesce, and with a cautious type of hope, he stepped forward and buried his face into Feliciano’s shoulder. The second he did so, he felt the tension drain out of his body. It was like all those months he spent shivering and suffering on the streets had never happened. Lovino gasped at the relief he felt. And then he started crying. 

_Dammit,_ Lovino thought. It wasn’t his intention to break down so pitifully, but try as he might, he couldn’t get those traitorous tears to stop. They were tears of regret, pain, guilt, and more than anything, pure relief. He still felt horrible about himself, about the things that he’d done just to survive, but he could shove it aside for now because his brother _didn’t_ hate him and wanted him to come home.

“I’m sorry.” Lovino whispered, trying to be rid of that horrible guilt that weighed him down.

Feliciano gripped him tighter, “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.” Lovino said again, choking up on his words. It was like a mantra, and he just couldn’t stop repeating it. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so, _so_ fucking sorry.”

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.” Feliciano whispered.

The forgiveness was all Lovino had wanted, yet a part of him felt so undeserving of this mercy. But he couldn’t linger on it now, because Feliciano was suddenly pulling away.

“I missed you, Lovi.” he said simply, swiping away the last of the moisture that had gathered atop his cheeks. “It’s quiet without you.”

Lovino choked on an odd mix of a chuckle and a sob. “What do you mean it’s quiet without me? You’re the one who could never shut up.”

“Mean.” Feliciano pouted, nudging the elder playfully in the side. He looked to his immediate left, to the baffled onlookers and smiled. He gestured towards them, specifically towards Antonio and Francis and asked, “Do you know them?”

Lovino glanced over, meeting Antonio’s broad smile with a shaky one of his own. “Yeah, they’re a couple of dumbasses.”

Feliciano rolled his eyes, but made his way towards the small group. He stood in front of Francis and Antonio, casting a critical eye over them. That smile he’d just so recently been wearing melted away into something harsher, almost accusing. “We met on the phone.”

Antonio audibly gulped, looking thoroughly caught. As did Francis, both of them able to do little more than nod in response. 

“You recognized me.” Feliciano said. It wasn’t a question, it was an accusation.

“Um, well…” Antonio mumbled, rubbing a hand sheepishly over the back of his neck. “I had my suspicions.”

Feliciano craned his neck to stare appraisingly at his brother. “Lovi, did you tell them to keep you hidden from me?”

Well, technically Lovino had never directed them to keep his presence a secret — it was more of an implied demand. But he really couldn’t let Feliciano pin the entirety of the blame on Antonio and Francis (even though Lovino thought it would be rather amusing to see his brother explode on the Frenchman), so he answered vaguely. “Um, yeah. Kind of.”

With a huff, Feliciano returned his glare to the two. “Fine, but I’m not happy with you.”

Antonio offered a nervous smile, nodding his agreement, “I’m sorry, I hope you’ll forgive us.”

With a stiff nod, Feliciano moved back to his brother. He grabbed Lovino by the wrist and pulled him forward, the irritated glare he previously wore dissipating in an instant. “There’s so much we need to catch up on!”

Lovino nodded, noticing he was being dragged towards the two men he’d seen his brother arrive with. Even if he’d never met him, Lovino recognized the albino as Gilbert, the louder of Antonio’s friends. The other guy was big, taller than everyone else in the room. Meticulously combed blond hair was slicked neatly back, the tight black t-shirt he wore seemingly two sizes too small for his massive build. 

He was intimidating, and Lovino felt his defenses go up on instinct. Had his brother not been the one pulling him along, he would’ve fled.

Finally, they stopped right in front of the two, taller men. Lovino tried to discreetly hide behind his brother, but all his efforts were wasted when Feliciano pushed him forward and said, “This is Ludwig and his older brother, Gilbert! Guys, this is my big brother, Lovino!”

Gilbert stepped forward without hesitation, offering a blinding smile and outstretched hand. “It’s nice to meet you!”

Lovino glared at the hand offered to him, catching Antonio’s encouraging smile out of the corner of his eye. With a long-suffering sigh, Lovino accepted the hand and stiffly shook it. “You’re really fucking loud, you know that?”

Instead of taking offense at the insult, Gilbert smirked. He took a step back, placing both hands on his hips in a bold display. “Of course I am, everyone should get the chance to hear my awesome words!”

Feliciano chuckled, and the blond to Gilbert’s side buried his face in one of his hands in embarrassment.

“Idiot.” Lovino mumbled, and vaguely he thought he could hear Antonio muffling a chuckle with his hand.

Feliciano rolled his eyes at the characteristic attitude, but otherwise ignored it. Instead, he beckoned the blond closer, smiling with sickenly sweet doe-eyes at the bulky man. The moment the blond was close enough, Feliciano linked their hands.

Lovino snapped his eyes to the action, suddenly recalling something about himself that he thought he’d forgotten entirely.

“Lovi, this is Ludwig.” Feliciano said, just a tinge of nervousness edging his voice. “He’s my boyfriend.”

 _That’s right._ Lovino thought, something unpleasant coiling in his gut. The thing he’d forgotten about himself after being separated from Feliciano for so long — he was extremely protective over him.

“Oh, hell no.” Lovino grumbled, glaring fixedly at the tall man — _Ludwig_ — who was still holding Feliciano’s hand. Lovino, despite his earlier wariness, pushed himself into the blond’s personal space, pointing a finger accusingly up at him. “What the hell are you doing with my little brother?”

“Um…” Ludwig trailed off, not cowed in the least bit. “I’m dating him?”

“Oh, it looks like we have a smartass.” Lovino growled under his breath, although his glare was diminished by his red-rimmed eyes and blotchy, tear-stained cheeks. 

Before the situation could get dangerous, Feliciano pushed his way in front of Ludwig, effectively forcing Lovino to take a step back. “Lovi, please don’t do this.”

“Do what?” Lovino asked, crossing his arms over chest with a defined little pout.

Feliciano rolled his eyes. “Every time I bring someone home, even if I’m not even dating them, you scare them away. I actually like Ludwig, so I’d really like you to accept that.”

Although Lovino felt the need to fight his brother on this, he was still painfully aware of how their last argument had gone — it was the reason he ran away. Not wanting to cause the same damage by escalating something that didn’t need to be escalated, Lovino relented. “Fine, whatever. You can keep your stupid boyfriend.”

_For now._

“Thank you!” Feliciano chirped, turning to give Ludwig a double thumbs-up.

Lovino snorted, but couldn’t quite suppress the small smile on his lips. He and his brother were back to interacting like normal, like nothing had happened. It was an incredible weight off his shoulders, the air feeling clearer than it had for months.

“So, how’d you meet Antonio?”

And just like that, Lovino felt an icy hand curl around his stomach and squeeze. The events that led up to Lovino and Antonio meeting were dark. The things he’s done just to survive… oh God, how was he going to explain that? How do you tell your family that you fought, starved, and became a prostitute to try and atone for everything you’d done to hurt them?

Antonio must have known exactly what was wrong, because he swooped in with the rescue. “That’s kind of a long story, maybe we can tell you later. How about we get lunch instead?”

Feliciano hummed in thought before shrugging. “Sure! We passed this Italian place on the way, and I wanted to try it out! What do you think, Ludwig?”

With Feliciano thoroughly distracted with the prospect of lunch, Lovino walked to stand next to Antonio. As soon as he was within earshot, Lovino whispered, “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Antonio said, looking after the younger, more innocent Italian with a sad smile. “You’ll have to tell him eventually, though.”

Lovino nodded, biting nervously at his lip at the mere thought. “I know.”

“Then it’s settled!” Feliciano said loudly, clapping his hands together. “Do you think we can walk there, or should we call a cab?”

“We can walk.” Francis said, apparently the only one really paying attention. “They have a lovely little patio, it’s such a shame it’s so cold.”

Feliciano hummed in acknowledgement before walking towards his brother. He took Lovino’s arm and looped his own through it. With a timid smile, Feliciano asked, “Is this okay?”

With a heavy roll of the eyes, Lovino pulled the younger towards the door. “Of course it is, idiot. How’s school going?”

Feliciano’s smile shone so brightly it could put the sun to shame. As they walked, he told Lovino about everything he’d accomplished thus far at school, and just how excited he was to share his life with his brother again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation:
> 
> Come hai potuto farmi questo -- how could you do that to me
> 
> Hey! I really hope the reunion lived up to expectations! There's definitely some loose ends that need to be tied up, but this marks the beginning of the end :(
> 
> Please let me know what you thought, this was a long-ass chapter lol, there was just so much that needed to be said! I'm really glad Feli and Lovi can finally start to work things out :)
> 
> Also, please forgive my crappy Italian -- I don't speak any romance languages, they lowkey confuse the hell out of me XD
> 
> Thanks for reading y'all, I'll be back at ya with another chapter soon lol


End file.
